Lonely Hearts in Space
by Serenity-X-Garrus
Summary: (CD - Canon Divergent) - With The Collectors at their doorstep and The Reapers sitting in wait, time is of the essence for the crew of the Normandy. Loyalty, friendships are tested and amid the chaos Love awakens.
1. Chapter 1 - January

Hello my wonderful readers! I bring another story that is Mass Effect related!

ABOUT: Lonely Hearts in Space was just a thought for a friend's OC with mine. And then this entire universe grew when another friend of mine started shipping their oc with mine. So this is how it came to be!

Read the summary and my profile for more updates. THIS IS A MONTHLY FIC. Which means that I will update this story _every month.  
One chapter every month._ This story is **Canon Divergent** as it has many changes from canon to get towards the end. It starts in Mass Effect 2.

This story is Rated M for Mature for NSFW scenes later. It will be suggestive here but on my blog it will contain the heavy stuff. (If I can write it lol.)

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 **To know more about our OC's: You can find it here:** _djfatchip . tumblr .com (/) LonelyHeartsinSpace_ [Without spaces] - Visit my profile for the link.

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At the bottom and top of every chapter there will be a **translations** for you all to go back to as some oc's are multi-lingual.  
I am Bilingual myself so my main characters will mostly speak Spanish and English. OC's Celestine and Gustav speak french at times as well.

Words for this chapter: 14,378  
Pages for this chapter: 61

 **Note:** 0-0-0-0 means that the story is transitioning to a new character or idea.

Without further ado, hope you enjoy the story! And check out our OC's!

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 **Translations:**

Mi cielo – means _my sky_ in Spanish

Tienes un problema, hijo? - means _do you have a problem son_ in Spanish

Papa – means _dad_ or _father_ in Spanish

Que tienes? - means _what's the matter_ in Spanish

Hijo – means _son_ in Spanish

Geai Bleu – means _blue jay_ in French

Mama – means _mom_ or _mother_ in Spanish

Vas a estar bien – means _you are going to be ok_ in Spanish

Jefe – means _boss_ in Spanish

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 **Lonely Hearts in Space**

Chapter 1 – January

Giggles were heard in the distance. Getting closer and closer to him. His eyes fluttered open slowly. Sky blue eyes adjusting to the bright light as his eyes tried to focus on what was in front him.

"You know you're not suppose to take a nap, mi cielo! We have work to do!"

Another giggle and he finally zeroed in on her midnight blue eyes. She smiled at him, soft nails scratching his head as she parted his hair to look at him better.

"Geai bleu?" he asked as he reached for her cheek.

She leaned into his touch, "who else would it be silly. Now come on," she encouraged with a soft pat to his head. "Time to wake up, lazy."

She got up, her long raven hair trailing after her as she jogged back into…

"Where am I?" he wondered as he slowly turned around, getting up, looking around.

"Tienes un problema, hijo?"

He whirled around at his voice, sky blue eyes widen in surprise and in sudden pain.

"Papa!" he exclaimed with tears brimming at the edge of his eyes.

"Que tienes?" his father asked concerned.

His father was met with a hug that was so strong he couldn't breathe.

"Don't break him now, Bryant," laughed his sister behind him.

Bryant turned around, happy to see her.

"I saw you… you were…" he tried to find the words to say what he wanted to say.

She smiled. Their father standing next to her. His father placed a hand on her shoulder also smiling at him. Bryant's face fell. It wasn't a happy smile. It was a pained, sad smile.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he took a step back.

"You don't belong here, mi cielo," explained his sister.

"You don't belong here, hijo. You need to wake up," his father repeated.

Bryant was confused as he took another step back. His foot hit something behind him, almost losing balance. He caught himself and turned around. He saw himself on a medical table.

"You need to wake up, Bryant," said his sister far away.

Bryant turned around, looking frantic as everything around him started to shatter, break and collapse.

His eyes zeroed in on his father and his sister. Their home in the background crumbling into nothing. He reached out and screamed.

"CELESTINE! DAD!"

He was greeted with their smiles as they vanished, leaving him in the dark.

" _Wake up, Commander."_

0-0-0-0

"Wake up, Commander."

Bryant's mind was trying to comprehend what just happened. A voice pulled him back. Memories rushed into him in full force.

"Bryant, do you hear me? Get out of that bed now – this facility is under attack."

He felt himself move. Rattled. Her voice was so close yet so far. He felt everything all at once. Pain. The first feeling was pain. Then soreness. His eyes fluttered open. Bright lights blinding him, prompting him to get up, pain shot from his ribs. He took a sharp intake of breath. Something exploded nearby, shaking his medical bed as he tried to comprehend what was going on.

"Bryant. Your scars aren't healed but I need you to get moving, this facility is under attack," spoke the voice again.

Bryant huffed as he felt his jaw. It hurt like hell. It was sore. It bugged him. He looked up, fire in the distance from where he sat was seen through the window. Gunfire going off and another explosion rattling his area.

"There is a pistol in the locker on the other side of the room. Hurry!" rushed the voice.

"I am going!" Bryant shouted back in pain.

He grunted as he finally left the medical bed, taking another inhale of breath and looked around him, his eyes looking at the locker that she mentioned.

He limped to the locker, opening it to see his armor and pistol. He quickly placed his armor on and checked the pistol. He raised an eyebrow as it was empty.

"This pistol doesn't have a thermal clip," he shouted into the empty room.

"It's a med bay. We'll get you a clip from… damn it!" shouted the voice in the room.

His eyes scanned the room and one canister was already about to blow from the amount of pressure it was exhaling. He took cover nearby.

"Keep your head down, Bryant! Shield yourself from the blast!"

As soon as the words left the voice's lips the canister by the entrance exploded. Bryant flinched at the sound as a face softly faded from his mind. He shook his head getting out of cover and leaving the medical bay.

"What the hell is happening?" he asked as he moved forward. His eyes finally finding a thermal clip.

"Someone's hacking security trying to kill you. Look for a thermal clip for your pistol."

"Found one!" he said as he bent to pick it up and placed it into the empty slot of his pistol.

He cocked the pistol and opened the door in front of him frowning as he saw boxes and desks piled on top of each other.

"Looks like they set up a barricade to try holding the mechs off," explained the voice now in his ear.

Bryant nodded, looking over the barricade and around him to make sure it was safe. With an awkward jump, Bryant vaulted over the desk.

"Look out!," shouted the voice.

Bryant grunted as he hit the floor in his awkward way of going over it and heard something turning on. Bryant grabbed his gun and quickly got behind cover. The mech started to shoot at him. Bryant moved his head when he felt the bullets graze his cover. He inhaled closing his eyes, trying to find some kind of calm in his mind. Kind oceans eyes looked back at him.

' _You got this, mi cielo. Kick their asses. Show them what a Shepard is made of!'_

Bryant opened his amp at same time he opened his eyes and got out of cover, ramming into the mech full force. The mech staggered which proved the perfect opportunity to finish it off with a few bullets.

The mech laid by his feet as his biotics subsided. He shook his head as the impact rattled him.

"Keep moving. We need to get you to the shuttles," said the voice impressed.

Bryant smirked as he continued up the small set of stairs and grabbed a few thermal clips.

"Liked what you saw?" he asked the voice as he placed the thermal clips into the pistol.

"There isn't time for this," the voice said annoyed.

Bryant sighed looking back to seeing dead bodies. A sad frown replaced his smirk as he didn't even want to think what made them lay there near where he was. With a shake of his head he opened the door in front of him. He took a step towards the room and saw the mech's at the far end of the room activating.

"Bryant! Security mechs are closing in on your position. Take cover," instructed the voice.

Bryant sprinted quickly to the cover in front of him as the shooting began. He was getting annoyed. He had no moment to really breathe.

' _Good! Get angry! Unleash your fury!'_

Bryant's biotics flared again and as before rammed into the mech, shooting it and the other two that came from the door next to it.

Bryant doubled over, coughing and spitting out what he knew was blood. He wiped his mouth, sighing heavily with a shake of his head.

"Nice work, Bryant. Coast is clear," praised the voice. "You alright?"

Bryant nodded, "yeah. Nothing new," he replied as he went through the next door.

He felt his lungs were trying to catch up as he breathed. His eyes widen as he saw a giant mech kill two innocents in front of him.

"NO!" he shouted as he went to the window. "No…" he whispered as the two innocents fell on the floor unconscious.

' _You can't save them all, mi Cielo. Harden your heart. Keep moving!'_

"Don't waste time. I can't keep the mechs distracted for long," said the voice in his ear.

Bryant shook his head as he tried to keep himself calm.

' _Keep moving Bryant! You HAVE to move!'_

Bryant nodded as he turned around, holding his pistol limply. The next door opened and he saw a heavy weapon in front of him. With a raised brow he approached it.

"More reinforcements heading your way. Grab the grenade launcher off the security officer's body," instructed the voice.

Bryant closed the officer's eyes. He looked away and swallowed. It was never easy. With a reluctant nod he grabbed the rocket launcher. He was still a bit weak as he picked it up, dropping his pistol in the process.

"Here come the mech's. Use the grenade launcher to take them out," instructed the voice.

Bryant was relieved to hear that it wasn't going to be a group of people he had to use this on. He took cover quickly and prepared for the mech's to approach his area. As the thought left him, the door on the far side of the room opened and out came the mech's shooting at him. He aimed and fired the rocket. It hit them and a pipe nearby which exploded and fire shot out of the tank.

"Take the elevator down one floor," said the voice.

Bryant held the launcher and just shrugged, "where does this go?" he asked as he looked on him to find where to place it on himself.

"On your back, now hurry!" said the voice.

Bryant reached behind him and with a click the launcher stayed in place. He wiggled his lower back to see if it would fall and when he heard nothing fall he went to pick up his pistol and walked to the elevator, pressing a button to take him down one floor.

He paused as he left the lift. He stared at the fire not seeing a safe way through.

"Hurry! Get to the door! Run!" shouted hurriedly the voice.

"Are you crazy! I can burn alive!" he shouted back.

"Just RUN!"

Bryant groaned as he looked at the fire. With a huff he yelled as he ran into the fire, closing his eyes as he went through it.

He opened one eye then the other followed as he looked behind him. He grinned as he was seemingly ok, giving himself a double check to make sure he had no burns. He turned around jogging into the next door.

"You're doing… -Bryant. Head to the… -meet you…"

"Hey! Hey! You there?!" Bryant yelled, tapping his ear piece.

"Bryant? - read me? I've got… -closing in… -position."

He groaned in annoyance as he heard static on the other end. He looked around, feeling a bit lost. He went through another door and another, finding a himself in an office like room. He looked around, finding datapads and looking at scans, recordings, all pertaining to him. He didn't know what he was really seeing.

A noise caught his attention, taking his pistol out, it seemed he missed two mech's. He threw them against the wall watching as they malfunctioned and powered down by the force. He breathed in heavily, coughing into his hand seeing more blood than before.

' _Bryant…'_

He looked at the door at the sound of her voice.

"Geai Bleu…"

She smiled at him. Gesturing him to follow her. He couldn't believe that she was there. He rubbed his eyes to clear the imagine feeling his mind playing tricks on him but as he opened his eyes... she was still there. White dress flowing down loosely on her. Her hair long and black, curling at the bottom… just as he remembered her. Her red lips, her skin a soft brown, her midnight blue eyes always kind when looking at him.

' _We have to move…'_

She gestured for him to follow and she disappeared as she left the room.

"Wait!"

He ran after her looking down the hall where she ran. She was nowhere to be found. He swallowed. He came up the stairs and heard his name.

"Shepard!"

Bryant turned to the window, his heart racing as he looked at the window and the man behind it. Before Bryant could asked the man a question he was gunned down by the giant mech hiding behind the smoke and fire that raged behind the man.

"NO! STOP!" Bryant banged on the window, hoping to shatter it but to no avail.

The man looked at him shocked as he fell at his feet. Bryant's head was spinning. He always saved lives. He couldn't save them…

"Why?..." he asked himself.

With a sniff he turned around, pained eyes stared back at him.

"I know… I can't save them all…"

She nodded back at him and pointed to the door. He looked at the door then back at her but she vanished. He didn't want to move. He was tired. Exhausted. In pain. Sore. He just wanted to curl into a ball and stay like that forever if he could.

' _Push forward, Bryant. Keep going. Shepard's don't quit.'_

He frowned at that.

"That easy?" he asked her.

Another explosion rattled his mind to get back to reality.

' _Move.'_

Bryant un-holstered his pistol and walked to the door as the sounds of gunfire was getting louder. The door opened, hearing biotics unleashing. He found a man using his biotics and shooting the mechs at the far end of the room.

"Shepard? What the hell…" the man asked confused, pausing mid sentence as a bullet whizzed past him.

Bryant ran to his side, taking cover. With an inhale of breath he got out of cover and used his biotics to lift the mechs, shooting them as they floated towards them.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still a work in progress," asked the man to his left.

More mechs came from the door and Bryant ducked behind the glass rail.

"First, don't call me Shepard. It's Bryant. Second, who are you and what is going on?"

"Yeah… sorry. I forgot this is all new to you right now," the man responded. "I'm Jacob Taylor… I've been stationed here for -"

Jacob paused in his introduction as a mech shot in between them.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

With narrowed eyes he got up and shot at the mech, blowing its head off.

"Things must be worse than I thought if Miranda's got you running around-"

"Miranda? Is that the one in my earpiece? Who woke me up?" Bryant interrupted quickly.

Jacob nodded quickly not really getting what he meant, "I'll fill you in, but we better get you to the shuttle first."

"Fine! But I want answers!"

Bryant cursed under his breath as he got out of cover and began to shoot them. Jacob helped with his biotics, lifting the mech's into the air making them easier targets.

Finally, Bryant was able to breathe, coughing up blood as he inhaled sharply.

"You ok?" asked Jacob as he watched him.

"Yeah. I'm fine," said Bryant with a nod and a wipe of his mouth with his arm.

"There is much to talk about but we really should get you to safety," said Jacob as he motioned behind Bryant.

"Yeah, I can see right now is not the best time to ask," Bryant gestured for Jacob to take point.

Jacob nodded and took one step when his omnitool went off.

"Check. Check. Anyone on this frequency? Anybody still alive out there? Hello?" came a voice from Jacob's omnitool.

"Wilson? This is Jacob. I'm here with Bryant. Just took out a wave of mechs over in D Wing," responded Jacob with a finger to his earpiece.

"Shepard's alive? How the hell… never mind. You need to get him out of there. Get to the service tunnels and head for the network control room," instructed Wilson.

Bryant raised a brow at the way Wilson's voice sounded either confused or surprised. That didn't settle well with him.

"Roger that, Wilson. Stay on this frequency," answered Jacob with a nod.

Bryant opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. Instead nodding with him. He finally had a look at Jacob and the insignia on his chest looked familiar. Yet so very distant was his mind from reality as it was trying to comprehend what was going on around him. He couldn't place where he had seen it.

"C'mon, the service tunnels are this way," gestured Jacob behind Bryant as he walked past him to take point.

Bryant nodded turning around to follow him.

"I think I remember a Wilson checking on me one time when I woke up," commented Bryant as he followed Jacob.

"That's him. He's the chief medical tech. Answers directly to Miranda," answered Jacob as he opened the door and looked around.

They both heard a noise of something powering on and immediately began shooting at the mech that greeted them. Three more followed as they came through the door, Jacob quick on his feet to dispose of them with his biotics.

"Thanks man," said Bryant in gratitude.

"No problem. Let's keep moving," Jacob said. He mused something over in his mind and spoke, "Wilson? Find us another route out of there. Preferable one that doesn't lead straight into an enemy squad!"

Bryant sighed in relief to hear Jacob say that. He really was growing wary and his vision was becoming blurry.

"Oh God! They found me! Help!" cried out Wilson.

"Wilson? Where are you?" asked Jacob now concerned.

It made Bryant go ahead of Jacob running. He hoped that he could save Wilson. Jacob didn't bother stopping him as he ran.

"Server Room B! Hurry! They're out of control!"

Bryant stopped midway up the stairs looking at Jacob frantically to which it was.

"Up those stairs, Bryant!"

"Oh, God! I'm hit! They shot me!"

Bryant took two stairs at a time, reaching the top and opening the door quickly.

"Jacob. Shepard. Down here," grunted Wilson on the floor.

"Don't call me Shepard. Its Bryant. Where does it hurt?" asked Bryant as he quickly turned on his omni tool and scanned him.

"Bastards got me in the leg," Wilson answered with a groan.

Bryant looked at Jacob, pointing to his omni tool.

"Should be some medi-gel in the first aid station on the wall," Jacob said pointing to the dispenser. "Hopefully there's enough to get him up and moving again."

Bryant walked to it and added it to his omnitool, walking back to add it to Wilson.

"Thanks, Bryant. Never thought you'd save my life. Guess that makes us even now," said Wilson with a relieved sigh.

Bryant nodded, "I guess it does. I remember seeing you the first time I woke up."

"Yeah. That was me" he grunted. "I thought maybe I could shut down the security mechs. But whoever did this fried the whole system. Completely irreversible."

Bryant was about to respond when Jacob beat him to it.

"We didn't ask what you were doing. Why do you even have security mech clearance? You were in the bio wing," asked Jacob suspiciously.

Bryant raised a brow, "you didn't see the many officers dead while getting around the station?"

Jacob frowned at that.

"Weren't you listening? I came here to try and fix this. Besides, I was shot! How do you explain that?" challenged Wilson.

Bryant crossed his arms over his chest looking at Jacob, "he has a point you know. And it doesn't matter. We need to move anyway."

"You're right Bryant. We need to find Miranda. We can't leave her behind," nodded Jacob.

"Forget about Miranda," chimed in Wilson. "She was over in D wing. The mechs were all over that sector. There's no way she survived."

Bryant narrowed his eyes, "I won't leave her behind."

"A bunch of mechs won't drop Miranda. She's alive," said Jacob upset.

He looked at Bryant with a nod in gratitude.

"Then where is she? Why haven't we heard from her?" asked Wilson. "There are only two possible explanations: she is either dead… or a traitor!"

"I was in communications with her before I ran into Jacob over here," said Bryant as he nodded towards Jacob's direction. "She was a bit busy trying to make sure _she_ got out of wherever she was alive." Bryant paused for a moment trying to get this thoughts in order. "Besides, that makes no sense? Why did she wake me up and warn me about the attack?"

Something in Wilson changed. Bryant saw the shift in his personality.

"Okay, maybe she's not a traitor. But that doesn't change the facts. We're here, she's not. We need to save ourselves," suggested Wilson. He looked behind him and pointed to the canisters blocking their way, "the shuttle bay is only a few-"

He didn't finish his sentence as mechs came from the other side.

"Use overload on the canisters!" advised Wilson as he got behind cover.

"I don't have overload!" Bryant barked back as he tried to peek over the edge of his cover.

Wilson muttered a curse and slowly peeked his head over his cover and overloaded the canisters, ducking quickly once they exploded.

"These mechs don't know when to quit!" exasperated Jacob.

Bryant huffed, "they are programed to not quit."

Jacob laughed, "true."

Bryant smiled. Finally something that was familiar to him. Joking around.

Wilson rolled his eyes, "that's it. Let's get out of here."

Bryant rolled his shoulders to alleviate the tension on his upper back. The armor felt a little off for him. He hoped he would be able to get a different kind. Maybe one he can tinker with.

"Ok, we took 'em down, but this is getting tense," said Jacob making Bryant pause in his step towards the door. "Bryant, if I tell you who we work for, will you trust me?" asked Jacob a bit skeptical.

Bryant turned around slowly with a tired sigh he stared at Jacob.

"This really isn't the time, Jacob," interjected Wilson.

"We won't make it if he's expecting a shot in the back," Jacob challenged back.

Wilson huffed with a shake of his head, "if you want to piss off the boss, it's your ass, Jacob."

"Whatever. Just say what you want to say," Bryant interjected. He was starting to get a headache.

"The Lazarus Project, the program that rebuilt you... it's funded and controlled by Cerberus."

The name awoken a pain in his heart as he stared wide eyed at Jacob. Like a shot to the heart, he staggered back.

" _It was a rogue faction calling themselves Cerberus."_

" _Its major Kahoku.."_

" _Why can't she remember, mama…"_

" _LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed, gripping her head in pure pain._

" _So long as she is alive, he will never stop hunting her down!"_

" _She has a chance to change the galaxy! To unite us all!"_

" _This is for the best… it's best if i'm not there…"_

"Bryant!" Jacob grabbed his arm as Bryant tripped and almost fell on his back.

"Don't touch me!" he seethed at Jacob as he pulled his arm from his touch.

Jacob let him go with a raised brow.

"Your organization caused my sister to die on Virmire!" He cried out in anger.

Jacob looked down as Wilson rolled his eyes. Bryant looked at his hands.

"All she wanted… all she _ever_ wanted was a normal life… a life to grow up with no reason to look over her shoulder…" whispered Bryant as he closed his eyes, tears fell onto the palms of his hands. "And you took that away from her… since she was born…"

Jacob looked at Wilson with a raised brow in question. Wilson just shrugged as he folded his arms across his chest.

Bryant sniffed and wiped away his tears, looking at them with anger.

"I would _never_ work for Cerberus," Bryant barked.

"Look, I'd be suspicious too. But right now, we have to work together. I thought you deserved to know what's what," Jacob began. "Once we're off the station, I'll take you to the illusive man. He'll explain everything. I promise."

Bryant raised a brow at the name.

"Illusive man?"

"Not his real name," spoke up Wilson.

Bryant shook his head, "whatever. Let's just move. I don't like you or any of this. But I won't leave you two behind."

Bryant turned around and continued to go through the station. Not trusting him at his back he kept behind Jacob and Wilson. Memories haunting his every turn as she saw her. Leading the way, running. Her loose white dress flowing behind her. She looked back at him with a smile and a nod.

' _Why did you have to leave me Geai Bleu?'_ His mind asked. A question he wished she answered.

"C'mon, through here. We're almost at the…" said Wilson breathless.

He put in the code and the door opened, on the other side a woman started at him, teeth bared.

"Miranda! But, you were…"

Miranda didn't give him a moment longer to talk, shooting him point blank on his chest with her SMG.

"Dead?" she asked coldly.

Bryant did a double take as he could have sworn it was his sister standing in front of him. Hair, mannerisms, voice, and as she looked at Jacob it seemed she had the exact same eye color. The only difference was her skin. But other than that, Celestine Claire Shepard was standing right in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Jacob shocked as he came in running.

Bryant took out his pistol. Celestine or not, it didn't, matter. He didn't just risk his neck for Wilson to die in front of him.

"My job. Wilson betrayed us all," Miranda said with a glare.

"Even if you're sure, did he deserve _that_ welcome?" Bryant asked.

"He sabotaged the security system, killed my staff and he would have killed us."

Bryant narrowed his eyes as she stared at him. The same eyes like hers. The same that said 'I tell the truth.'

"You sure about that, Miranda? We've known Wilson for years. What if you're wrong?" challenged Jacob.

"I am never wrong. I thought you'd have learned that by now, Jacob," Miranda answered calmly.

Bryant's ears rang at that.

" _I am never wrong, Bryant. You should know that by now."_

Bryant shook his head as he lowered the gun, "either way. You should have taken him alive or something. With Cerberus, I would expect torture," Bryant said with a glare to Miranda.

"Too risky. But I can tell Jacob here, couldn't keep things to himself."

"Lying to Bryant isn't the way to get him to join our cause," responded Jacob with a nod.

"Cause? Pfttt. I ain't going nowhere with you," Bryant huffed.

"You can leave if you wish after you talk to my boss."

"The Illusive man."

Miranda nodded, "come on. He is waiting."

"We are going to another station?" Bryant asked.

"You can stay here if you wish and die with everyone else," Miranda suggested in a dark way.

Bryant muttered something under his breath as he followed Miranda into the shuttlebay.

0-0-0-0

Jessica sighed. Another life gone. She hoped Garrus would be ok. She placed the blanket on the last of the members of his squad. She should have been here sooner… they might -

"Don't."

Emerald eyes looked at his ice blue ones as he entered the room.

"It's not your fault. It's all mine," he began as he approached their beds.

"It's not, Garrus."

Garrus chuckled. It was humorless. Devoid of anything other than pain.

"It's not?" he asked her. "I made them continue to stay doing justice to the citizens of Omega… they just wanted peace to live," Garrus sighed as he touched one of the blankets.

Jessica didn't really know what to say. She felt in part, responsible. She should have been here too.

Garrus looked up, his visor going off.

"Looks like we are found," he said as he grabbed his sniper rifle nearby and went to the other side of the room.

Jessica followed him out of the room, with one look over her shoulder to each blanket. She nodded and went to the other side of the room with Garrus.

"How many?" she asked him as she looked through the binoculars she had nearby.

Garrus paused in his answer as the count on his visor was still going.

"Too many to count. Get ready."

"I am always ready," said Jessica with a smirk.

Garrus' mandibles fluttered.

Their moment disrupted as a rocket flew past them and hit the other end of the room. Jessica grabbed her pistol nearby and ran down the stairs going all the way to the bridge.

"Be careful down there, Kitten," said Garrus as he placed his helmet and positioned himself to snipe anyone who came through the bridge.

"And what fun would that be?" she joked.

Garrus sighed.

0-0-0-0

Bryant held his head in his hands. Her face was all she could see. Staring back at him.

"We should be there shortly, Shepard. The Illusive Man put us under your command. Do you have any orders?" asked Miranda.

Bryant groaned, "don't call me Shepard. Bryant is all you need to say. And not that I can think of besides the usual," he said as he looked at Jacob and Miranda, finally sitting upright. "Watch each others back and if we find any survivors, make them a priority to keep safe."

"That's unlikely, Bryant. No one was left at the other colonies. They were completely deserted," said Miranda with a raised brow.

"Be nice to find somebody," Jacob interjected. "Anything's better than another ghost town."

Bryant sighed, looking out the shuttle's window. He really just wanted to sleep. Just...

' _Keep going, mi Cielo. You got this.'_

"Yeah…" he whispered. "Anything for you…"

Miranda and Jacob looked at each other and then at him with confused expressions.

0-0-0-0

Jessica rolled and ducked behind her cover. Her biotics coming to life as she stood slowly. The mech becoming a problem now.

"Jessica?!" came in Garrus' concerned voice.

"I'm ok," Jessica replied. "Annoyed, but ok."

"I need a good shot at this bastard!" Garrus seethed.

"Then we do this the old fashion way, up close and personal."

Jessica vaulted over her cover, despite Garrus' protest. Her biotics flaring out, wips formed in her hand.

"Alright, you shit. Bring it," she taunted as she whipped her wips on the floor.

The sound of a whip made some of the eclipse mercenary's flinch. With a flick of her wrist, the whips were able to get the said mercenaries out in the open for Garrus to snipe them and lastly she wrapped the mech in front of her and pulled bringing it down.

With two more shots and wasted SMG bullets on it's back, the mech exploded. Jessica sighed breathlessly.

"You ok, Kitten?" came in Garrus' voice in her ear.

She nodded looking back at him.

An explosion behind them was heard and Jessica ran back into the building.

"Where is that coming from?" she asked as she looked around.

"Damn it. They've breached the lower level," Garrus sighed. "Well, they had to use their brains eventually," Garrus mused over a strategy as he came to the stairs. "We need to shut the shutters before they can get through." Garrus grimaced.

"I'll go. You stay here and keep that bridge safe," advised Jessica as she checked her SMG and Pistol.

"Kitten you _have_ to be careful. Promise me," said Garrus as he gave her a stern look.

Jessica nodded, "always."

Garrus' heart was in turmoil, "don't give Gustav a reason to hunt me down," he grimaced as he tried to lighten the mood. More for his sake than hers. "I would like to live, you know."

Jessica paused in her step. She shook her head in humor as she went through the back of the stairs door and down the flight of stairs.

With her biotics powering up and SMG at the ready she ran to the first shutter. Once she pressed it she threw grenades onto the other side and took cover. She only had to wait ten seconds for the shutter to close. She moved on to the next which she needed to vault over half raised walls to get to the other shutter.

She gasped and slid almost getting caught in a vorcha's flamethrower as she rounded the corner. With a powerful throw she was able to make the tank on the flamethrower blow. Covering her face as flesh was rained down on her.

"Ewww…."

She shook her head and continued moving, throwing anyone coming through the shutter. Again, touching the big red button she needed to wait for ten seconds. She threw more grenades and took cover by the button. Varren growled as they came towards her. She sighed in relief as the grenades exploded and the shutter closed.

' _One more to go.'_

"Garrus?" she asked as she ran to the other side of the place to reach the next shutter.

"I'm here. You ok?" he asked as he grunted, taking cover and reloading.

"Yeah. Got one more," she said as she slowly walked into the last shutter.

It was eerily quiet. The hairs on her neck stood on end and her gut telling her they were hiding.

She took cover and as quiet as she could, made her way to the shutter's button. She heard a varren's growl nearby, making her pause in her step. Her emerald eyes narrowed as she saw the big red button. It was so close yet she didn't want to alert anyone nearby to her presence just yet.

Reaching into her belt pouch on her hip she mentally counted how many more grenades she had. Which wasn't much but if she could get to the door she could make them count. With a deep breath she counted to three.

 _One_

 _Two_

 _Three_

She took out her pistol and made a run for it, the varren picking up on the noise. She threw her pistol at the big red button and threw the grenades on the other side as the VI made the countdown from ten seconds. With her biotics flaring she threw the varren that came after her, glad that it was only two and shot a warp at the vorcha in hiding. Grenades exploded behind her as the shutter finally closed. She was so glad it was now over as she took cover and was able to take down the last of the vorcha nearby.

"Get back here, Jessica! They're coming through the doors!" Garrus said alarmed as the door was being pried open.

Garrus positioned himself with this sniper rifle by the stairs.

Jessica inhaled a breath and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Watch my back. I'll deal with Archange!" said Garm, the Bloodpack's krogan leader.

A vorcha nearby was thrown against the wall. From the impact broke it's neck and fell on the floor.

"Over my dead body," Jessica said darkly as she came into the room.

Garm smirked as he signaled for another of his team to take her on.

Her biotics flared as her wips formed in her hand. She unleashed everything she had on the damned korgan so it wouldn't regenerate and used his size to her advantage to take cover and shooting the vorcha shooting at her. With a grunt, she flipped over the krogan, her whips tangled on it's neck. One she landed on the other side, the krogan fell on its back. Jessica wasted no time in shooting its headplate. Blood splattered nearby.

She ran up the stairs as she heard Garrus grunt.

With the little energy she had left she threw Garm away from Garrus. Breathing heavily as she stared him down.

"That is precious, Archangel. Need a tiny human to protect you," Garm taunted.

Garrus' mandibles fluttered, "you just pissed her off," he smirked. "She doesn't like to be called tiny."

And with that Jessica ran to him, whips in hand wrapping around the korgan. Like a bouncy ball she threw him towards the window. It shattered upon contact. Garm yelling as he went out, holding onto the whip. She let her biotics disappear and the last thing she heard was Garm's yell of terror.

Jessica fell on her hands and knees as she tried to get air in her lungs. She exhausted a lot of energy.

"Kitten?! You ok?" Garrus asked as he came beside her.

Jessica could only nod. She was too tired to speak.

Garrus went back to his position, trying to find something for Jessica to eat or something to help her when his visor had a big red dot in the center of it.

"Arcangel!"

Garrus turned towards the open area where he was taking cover as a helicopter hovered over their place.

Jessica's heart stopped as the gunship open fired on Garrus.

"You think you can screw with the Blue Suns!" yelled Tarak from inside his gunship.

"GARRUS LOOK OUT!"

With shaking legs she got up.

"No Jessica! Stay back!" Garrus ordered of her.

Garrus rolled out of the way as a bullet whizzed past him.

"This ends now!" Yelled Tarak as he shot a rocket.

"Garrus!" Jessica cried out.

The blast blew her away from Garrus. With a grunt she hit the wall. Her vision swimming, trying hard to focus, she inhaled sharply as she got up. She looked at Garrus' unconscious body, blue blood pooling around him.

Emerald eyes narrowed as her biotics violently exploded, red was all she could see as she walked menacingly towards the gunship.

"You're dead," she threatened as she unleashed the full force of her biotics on the gunship.

0-0-0-0

"Bryant? Is that… you're alive?" asked Tali as if she was dreaming.

Bryant smirked, "is that surprise I hear in your voice?"

Tali blinked.

Bryant paused trying to give her a reason to trust that it was really him.

"Remember when Gustav gave you the Geth data? Did it help you complete your pilgrimage?"

Tali's eyes widen at that, "y-yes… it did. It's really you!"

Bryant nodded with a smile, "I have to admit. It's good to see a friendly face."

"Put your weapons down, Prazza. This is definitely, Commander Bryant Leon Shepard," introduced Tali.

"Just Bryant will do, T," he sighed. Already annoyed.

"How do you know? And why is he working for cerberus?" asked Prazza skeptical as he placed his shotgun behind him.

"No one else was there to give her the data besides her, me and Gustav when he came aboard the Normandy," responded Bryant.

Tali nodded, confirming his story.

"And I don't work for Cerberus. They brought me back to life. I just want to know why people are disappearing from human colonies."

Prazza blinked as Tali looked at him.

"Likely story. No organization would commit so many resources to bring back one soldier," said Prazza skeptical.

Bryant's eyes narrowed at that.

"You haven't seen Bryant in action, Prazza. Trust me. It was money well spent," interjected Tali.

Bryant was surprised to hear that from her. She was that confident in his abilities that she would praise him as such? It was laughable to him. To him it was money and resources wasted. The one they needed, was his sister. Not him. He didn't do anything. She did. She did it all.

"Perhaps we can work together. We're here looking for a young quarian named Veetor. He was here on pilgrimage," began to explain Tali.

Bryant raised a brow at that, "isn't that a little strange?" he asked. "A quarian visiting a remote human colony?"

Tali shook her head in amusement, "Quarians can choose where they go on Pilgrimage remember?" she asked with a pause. "Veetor liked the idea of helping a small settlement. He was always… nervous in crowds."

Bryant now understood. And of course he remembered. He would ask her a million and one questions about her people whenever they had a moment to talk.

"She means that he was unstable. Combine that with damage to his suit's CO2 scrubbers and an infection from an open-air exposure, and he is likely delirious," corrected Prazza.

"When he saw us landing, he hid in a warehouse on the far side of town. We suspect he also programmed the mechs to attack anything that moved," finished explaining Tali.

Bryant inhaled deeply as he thought for a moment.

"Veetor's the only one who can tell us what happened here. We should work together to find him," suggested Bryant with hope in his voice.

"Yes," nodded Tali. "I was going to suggest the same. Two teams are better than one," she paused. "Besides, you will need two teams to get past the drones."

Bryant groaned, "it's never easy is it?"

Tali laughed, "if it was easy we would have left by now."

Bryant chuckled, "yeah I know."

"You still like to whine don't you?" Tali said with a shake of her head.

' _It wouldn't be Bryant without his whining.'_

Bryant rolled his eyes at his own Celestine in his mind.

"Now we're working with Cerberus?" asked Prazza incredulously.

Tali rolled her eyes as she looked at him, "no, Prazza, you're working for me. If you can't follow orders, go wait on the ship," she huffed. "Head for the warehouse through the center of the colony. We'll circle around the far side and draw off some of the drones to clear you a path."

Bryant raised a brow, "your people really don't like Cerberus. What did I miss?"

"They killed our people, infiltrated our flotilla and tried to blow up one of our ships," Prazza responded with disdain in his voice.

"That's not how i'd have explained it, exactly. It was nothing personal," interjected Miranda.

"We can argue over who killed who later. Right now, we've got a job to do," cut in Jacob.

"Agreed," said Tali. "We work together to get to Veetor."

Bryant nodded, "keep in radio contact."

Tali smiled, "will do." She turned around and took one step forward only to pause and look at him over her shoulder. "Whatever happens… it's good to have you back… B."

Bryant smiled at that.

0-0-0-0

Jessica watched as the gunship blew up in front of her, falling pieces rained down around the area. She turned around checking Garrus over, her omni tool on as she contacted Mordin.

"I… need... a… team… Mordin…. please… Garrus… is…." Jessica tried to explain to Mordin but she was exhausted.

"Say no more. Help is on the way," came in Mordin's voice.

Jessica nodded as she scanned Garrus with her omni-tool.

"If you die... I'm kicking your ass," she said with gritted teeth as she tried to keep herself awake,

Garrus breathed out as Jessica pumped his system with medigel.

"Hang in there big guy," she encouraged as her heart hammered in her chest out of relief.

Garrus gurgled, his hand holding onto the tip of his sniper rifle, bringing it closer to him.

"Stay with me, Garrus," said Jessica as she completed her scan of him.

Voices were heard in the distance. She got up and looked through her binoculars. She sighed in relief as she saw people with a medical bed for him.

"Hang in there big guy. Help is on the way. Ok?" she asked of him as Garrus could only see her eyes.

"Over here!" she yelled at the team that were already in the building.

Her omnitool beeped at her. She opened the message quickly, her eyes widen in alarm.

"Quickly!" she said as she gestured for the medical team to help her with Garrus. "There isn't much time, move!" she exclaimed as they quickly added Garrus onto the bed.

The entire team of five plus Jessica all ran as fast as they could. The lower floor exploding beneath them. They were already going over the bridge's platform. With one last look to the top area of their hideout she ran after the medical team, the grenades she set on the wall, exploded, caving everything in.

0-0-0-0

Bryant sighed in relief as the heavy mech exploded. He was so exhausted. He had to use everything he knew about his abilities just to take that damned thing down.

"How are they, T?" asked Bryant as he opened his omni tool, ready to help her if needed.

"They are going to be fine. This is your chance to talk to Veetor," Tali advised as she looked at him.

Bryant nodded. With a pat to her shoulder he left her to attend to her people. He slowly approached the door taking a deep breath as the door slid opened for him. What he found… well, it was a bit unsettling for him.

"Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no-no."

"Veeor?" asked Bryant as he approached the quarian cautiously.

"No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide," responded the quarian.

"Nobody's going to hurt you anymore," responded Bryant as his brows knitted together to understand the quarian.

"I don't think he can hear you, Bryant," responded Jacob as the quarian didn't answer.

Bryant hummed in response as he powered up his omni tool. Finding the frequency in which the monitors were currently in, Bryant shut them down all at once.

Veetor looked at the monitors confused. Bryant powering down his omnitool made Veetor turn around.

"You're human. Where did you hide? How come they didn't find you?" he asked surprised as he got up from his chair.

"Who didn't find us?" asked Miranda.

"The… monsters. The swarms. They took everyone," explained Veetor.

"Why didn't the colonists fight back, Veetor? What happened?" Bryant asked him softly.

"You don't know. You didn't see. But I see everything," said Veetor ominously as he went to the console and pressed a button.

Bryant's heart hammered in his chest, drowning out any other noise as his eyes scanned the entire panel of screens. All showing the enemy, taking people away in caskets.

"Looks like security footage. He must've pieced it together manually," said Miranda as she took a step closer to the console.

"What the hell is that?" asked Jacob.

"They can't be… my god. I think it's a Collector," responded Miranda as a soft gasp escaped her lips.

"Is that some kind of alien?" asked Bryant as he finally found his voice.

"They're species from somewhere beyond the Omega 4 relay. Only a few people have ever seen one in person," began to explain Jacob.

"They usually work through intermediaries, like slavers or hired mercenaries. If they're involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the colonies," concluded Miranda.

"The collectors have advanced technology, they could have a weapon that disables an entire settlement at once," added in Jacob.

"The seeker swarms. No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away," said Veetor terrified.

Bryant sighed softly. There were a thousand and one questions he wanted to ask but the more he looked at the quarian the more he couldn't. He was traumatized and needed medical attention.

"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the quarian and call the shuttle to come pick us up," ordered Miranda.

Bryant's mind came back to him as he raised a brow in her direction.

' _Well… I thought you were giving the orders.'_

Bryant was peeved at that remark. Before he could answer, the door behind them opened.

"What? Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!" came in Tali's angry voice.

"We won't hurt him. We just need to see if he knows anything else. He'll be retuned unharmed," said Jacob as a way to make her see reason.

Bryant wanted to laugh as Celestine laughed in his mind.

' _Poor dumbass. Doesn't even know who the fuck he is dealing with.'_

"Your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we'll never get the intel we need," said Miranda with a smirk.

Bryant looked up at the ceiling as Celestine laughed in his mind.

"Prazza was an idiot, and he and his men paid for it. You're welcome to take Veetor's omni-tool data but please. Just let me take him," pleaded Tali.

"You don't have to take Veetor and go. We could work together. Just like old times," said Bryant hopeful. A familiar face is what he needed amidst the chaos that surrounded him.

"I want to, Bryant. But I can't…" she began to explain. "I've got a mission of my own. It's…" she paused to think over her words. "It's too important for me to abandon. Even for you."

Bryant's eyes widen at that. In part understanding. In another, he couldn't believe that she was saying no to him. Two years could really change people, he guessed.

"When it's over and I'm still alive…" she shrugged. "We'll see what happens."

"Wait," said Bryant as he fluttered his eyes. "What do you mean _if_ you are still _alive_?" Bryant asked as he tried to comprehend her statement.

"I don't think Cerberus needs to hear about it. But it's in geth space. That should tell you how important it is," informed Tali.

Bryant's eyes widen, "are you crazy!?" he exclaimed. The laugh in his head made him pause. "Don't answer that," he corrected.

Tali shifted her feet.

With a sigh he turned to Miranda, "first, he's traumatized and he needs medical care. Tali will give us the omni-tool data and take him to the flotilla," Bryant ordered.

"Understood, Bryant," said Miranda surprised at his annoyed voice.

"Second, the next time you _decide_ to give an order, how about you keep quiet? Say it as a suggestion? I thought I was in charge."

Miranda raised a brow but nodded nonetheless.

"Thank you, B. I'm glad you're still the one giving orders," said Tali with a smirk. "Good luck out there. If I find anything that can help you, I'll let you know," she concluded with a nod.

"Take care, T. Whatever you need, I will be there," he said to her as he extended his hand for her to shake.

Tali stared at his hand and smiled. Instead surprising Bryant with a hug.

"Vas a estar bien," she whispered to him.

Bryant laughed, "been practicing I see," he said as he wrapped his arms around her to hug her tight.

Tali nodded, letting him go.

"We're ready for pickup," said Jacob into his earpiece.

Tali went to Veetor as Bryant watched her help the quarian. His sky blue eyes looked above her to the panel, eyes narrowing.

' _They will pay, tenfold,"_ hissed Celestine in his mind.

And of that, he was certain that they would.

0-0-0-0

Jessica sighed in equal relief and enjoyment as she took a shot of tequila to calm her nerves. She was glad Garrus was going to live to fight for the rest of his life. And she was glad to finally rest a bit. Still, she helped anyone who needed it. His clinic really was busy. She thought she was going to lose Garrus to the virus that happened in the area. She analyzed the threat on her omni tool. The virus seemed complex. No wonder Mordin was having a difficult time.

"Another one, professor," came in the nurse who rushed to the professor's side.

"Jessica?" asked Mordin as he looked up.

"I got it," she answered as she went to grab an IV nearby.

"You're going to be ok," she told her patient as she put gloves on and began to find a vein on the sick salarian.

0-0-0-0

Bryant couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe that he was following the same cripple from two years ago.

"I can't believe it's you, Joker," said Bryant already ecstatic to see a familiar face. And this time one of them was staying.

"Look who's talking. I saw you get spaced," said Joker in a joke but they both gave each other a sad smile.

"Got lucky, with a lot of strings attached," said Bryant as a way to change the subject. "How'd you get here?" he asked.

Jeff sighed, "it all fell apart without you, Bryant," began to explain Jeff. "Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone."

Bryant rolled his eyes.

' _Of course they did.'_

"Team was broken up, records sealed and I was grounded," Jeff continued to explain. He was still a bit peeved at that prospected. "The alliance took away the only thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus," he cheered.

Bryant hummed at that, "you really trust the Illusive man?" he asked as they stopped by a window.

"I don't trust anyone who makes more than I do."

Bryant chuckled at that and poked him on his arm.

"I made more than you."

Jeff grinned, "but they aren't all bad. Saved your life. Let me fly-" he paused as he pointed to the window. "And there's this. They only told me last night," he said a bit excited.

Bryant placed his hands on his hips as the lights turned on in what appeared to be a hangar bay. Bryant's eyes marveled at the new ship that was parked. He whistled as he placed his hands on the glass.

"It's good to be home, huh, Bryant?" Jeff asked as he too placed a hand on the glass.

"She is beautiful…" Bryant said in awe of the ship. Suddenly he frowned. Sadness replaced his awe. "Geai Bleu would have loved to see this…" he confessed softly.

Jeff looked at him sadly. Understanding the pain. He missed her to this day still.

Bryant shook his head, "I guess we'll have to give her a name," suggested Bryant as he looked at Jeff.

Jeff smirked at that.

0-0-0-0

Bryant needed a few minutes alone to finally gather his thoughts but even that wasn't granted to him as he was called by Miranda over the PA system. With a reluctant sigh he got up from his seat and walked towards the ship. New ship, new home. The name was the only thing that made it something unique. Something that could be home. A reminder that not everything was lost. Even if it's new. Part of him still wondered if anything at all was not really him. He was brought back to life after all. Who's to say that he wasn't a clone or something? He was very paranoid about that.

With a breath he walked into the Normandy's doors, Jacob and Miranda flanking him from behind.

"Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Bryant," said Jacob as Bryant looked around, walking in.

Jeff turned around in his seat, saluting him, happy to be a pilot again. He continued to walk down the ramp, seeing all the new faces. It was brighter than the old Normandy that was for sure. He had to blink several times to adjust to the light. He walked down a few stairs to take a look at the hologram of the ship in the center.

"I've been looking over the dossiers. I'd strongly recommend starting by acquiring Mordin Solus, the salarian professor on Omega," suggested Miranda from behind him.

Bryant nodded as his gloved fingers touched the new table in which the interface of the ship showed.

"We know the collectors use some type of advanced technology to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us," she continued to speak her mind.

Bryant turned around with a nod, "without that countermeasure, we'll be helpless if we ever run into the Collectors."

"Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the most logical place to start," stated a voice that sounded like a VI.

Bryant looked around him and then up, "what? Who?"

A blue ball appeared behind him. Miranda gestured with her chin to the table behind him. With a whirl Bryant came face to face with a blue sphere.

"I am the Normandy's artificial intelligence. The crew like to refer to me as EDI," EDI introduced herself.

Bryant chuckled in surprise, "well aren't you cute. Helmsmen aren't happy when someone takes control of a ship away from them. Especially Joker," he said with a laugh.

"I do not helm the ship. Mr. Moreau's talents will not go to waste," EDI explained. "During combat, I operate the electronic warfare and cyberwarfare suites. Beyond that, I cannot interface with the ship's systems," she paused. "I observe and offer analysis and advice. Nothing more," she concluded as she vanished.

Bryant turned around with a laugh, "oh man. Joker is going to blow a gasket," he shook his head. "Anyone else I have to meet?" he asked amused. "I'm guessing it takes more than just the three of us plus Joker to fly this ship."

"The Normandy has a full crew. They're at their stations awaiting your orders," responded Miranda with a smile.

Bryant nodded.

"Final preparations for takeoff are complete, Bryant. When you're ready to go just pick a destination from the galaxy map in the CIC and i'll plot a course," Jeff explained via the PA system.

"Jacob and I should return to our posts. Come find us if you have any questions," said Miranda with a nod and began to walk away.

Jacob saluted him and walked away, following Miranda to their rooms.

Bryant rubbed his neck as he turned around. His thoughts were finally his but he still needed a moment to get himself together. For the time being however he had to plan the destination to get to the Professor, so he went to the galaxy man. A ginger woman with lovely green eyes looked up from her current task and smiled at him.

"Yeoman Kelly Chambers. I've been assigned as your administrative assistant," she introduced herself with a salute as he walked up the ramp for the galaxy map. "I'll manage your messages and help you monitor the crew," she paused as her eyes lit up. "And I must say, it's such an honor to work under you, Bryant."

"Nice to meet you, Kelly," he smiled at her as he quickly punched in the coordinates to the professor. He turned around seeing her smile, "what's a cute thing like you doing aboard a ship like this?" he asked as he walked down the ramp and casually leaned on the rail.

Kelly giggled, "many things really. But we can have time to talk later. You seem exhausted. You should see Dr. Chakwas down in the medbay."

At the sound of her name Bryant's eyes widen.

"She is here?" he asked unable to really believe that.

Kelly nodded.

Without another word Bryant looked at Kelly and then at the elevator and went in, pushing the number three on the elevator to go down one floor. Once it reached the floor he was a little lost as he looked down both corridors and walked slowly around the elevator to see a kitchen, tables and the medbay with more corridors and doors.

He entered the medbay slowly, seeing grey hair first behind a chair.

"Bryant Leon Shepard. I watched the Normandy crumble with you on board. It's good to see you alive," Dr. Chakwas said as she spun around in her chair and stood with her arms opened.

Bryant couldn't believe that she was there. Right in front of him. Tears suddenly fell from his eyes as he went into her arms. A sob escaped him as he embraced her.

"It's ok Bryant. Let is out."

And he did. All the pain and frustration, anger he felt since waking up finally catching up to him. He couldn't stay on his feet anymore and Dr. Chakwas helped him onto a medical bed, slowly taking off his armor, revealing his nanosuit. She scanned him, gave him a physical as he stopped crying but the tears remained to fall. He was going with the motions to let her do her job. Once she was done she went to get water for him and placed it in his hands.

"Drink. It's good for you," she advised with a smile, wiping his tears with her thumbs.

Bryant nodded, drinking the water.

"Ugh. What is in this?" he asked as he made a face.

Dr Chakwas laughed, "what you were suppose to take upon waking up. It seemed they brought you back exactly as you were. With all your problems."

Bryant shook his head holding the cup in his hands.

"I miss her," he said to her.

Dr Chakwas nodded as she sat on her chair, her desktop showed the picture of her and Celestine hugging each other and smiling at the camera.

"I miss her too," she said softly.

Bryant debated whether to tell her about his make believe Celestine in his mind or not. If he was being honest with himself, he wanted to keep her in his mind. It gave him a sort of… peace. The stability he required at the moment. She was awfully quiet in his mind. But when he would close his eyes if just for a moment he would see her, smiling at him, her white dress flowing around her.

"So? Serving on a Cerberus vessel now?" Bryant asked with a chuckle. "What the Alliance got boring for you?"

Dr. Chakwas shook her head. A smile on her face to hear him laugh a little at least.

"Surprising, even to me," she responded. Shrugging she continued, "Yet, here I am," she paused looking at him. "The kind of trauma you endured would've changed most people, but not you I see. Welcome back, Bryant."

Bryant nodded with a laugh, "thanks. I guess… it feels good to feel welcomed… though you know…"

Dr Chakwas nodded, understanding.

Bryant looked around the small medbay. Well it wasn't small anymore. Plus the windows were a nice bonus that way she wouldn't be closed off from everyone. She could keep an eye on everyone.

"Do you have everything you need?" he asked her as he got up from the medical bed.

Dr. Chakwas nodded as she looked around her desk, "I believe so. This medical bay seems very much like the sick bay on the original Normandy." She paused with a frown, "only thing missing are my private reserves," she sighed.

"Private reserves?" asked Bryant as he looked at her.

She nodded, "I even had a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy that I was saving for a special occasion."

Bryant laughed, "already doc?"

Dr Chakwas nodded with a chuckle.

"I'll keep an eye out for a replacement bottle," he winked at her.

Dr. Chakwas shook her head, "you needn't worry. It's expensive and we have much larger concerns ahead."

Bryant smirked, "last time I checked, I was loaded."

Dr. Chakwas laughed at that.

"Alright doc. Thanks. I'm going to take all of this armor and go to my room, explore the ship get to know the crew… at least it gives me something to do. And I should get to know them."

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "I will be right here should you need anything."

Bryant picked up his armor pieces, some putting them back on to carry less with him. He walked to the door and paused as it opened.

"It's good to see a familiar face… that is all I need," said Bryant and walked off.

0-0-0-0

Bryant made the rounds after he placed his armor in his locker and put on the white and black Cerberus civivices. He really felt odd wearing something that didn't belong to him. He was happy to take a hot shower and finally get something in his stomach. Though he wished it was less iron based foods and more what he just liked to eat but he understood how the doctor was concerned for his health.

He went to the kitchen first to talk to Mess Sergeant Gardner. Though he actually placed him more on plumbing than the food. He would rather keep it that way. Gardner was actually very hostile towards the idea of not cooking but Bryant was also a cook, so there was no need to worry and less plumbing in the food.

He got to meet the engineering crew and was surprised that they were Alliance and laughed about what the Alliance and the Council wanted gone and the nonsense they were spewing but that was politics.

At least he wouldn't be bored while working with them. Though he felt that they were a bit understaffed. Especially where it mattered most.

He got to talk to more people and finally got to know EDI and Jeff's annoyance to it. Bryant couldn't help but joke around with him. It felt natural as though the last two years never happened. It made his heart feel lighter and it made him feel ten times better.

"By the way, we are near Omega. You might want to suit up," advised Jeff as he looked at his console.

Bryant looked over his shoulder to read the report coming into the screen.

"Alright," Bryant sighed. "According to the dossiers there are two people I need to recruit."

Jeff nodded, "good luck down there and uh, you know. Be careful and all that," he said with a half salute.

Bryant softly patted his shoulder with a nod, walking away to his cabin.

' _This makes no sense,'_ said Celestine in his mind.

"I was wondering when you were going to speak," Bryant replied as he went into the elevator and pressed the button to go up one floor.

' _I was observing. I am an observer. I need to know what is around me. Not all of us can be sugar and rainbows with other people you know.'_

Bryant laughed at that comment as he went into his room and into his closet.

"I really hate this armor," he commented with an annoyed whine.

' _So tweak it. Change it. Make it yours. A BRYANT original.'_ She emphasized.

Bryant nodded, "not a bad idea, Geai Bleu."

"Alright, Bryant," announced Jeff through the PA system. "The Normandy is docked. Ready whenever you are."

"Thanks Joker."

0-0-0-0

Jessica sighed tiredly. There were so many patients, she was starting to wonder if Mordin really had everything under control. A pat on his shoulder caused her to look behind her slowly. Smiling as she looked into ice blue eyes.

"You alright, Kitten?" Garrus asked her softly as he looked at her face.

Jessica nodded looking around, "just a bit tired. That's all."

"You should get some rest then," he advised as he too looked around.

"I think that applies to you more than me," she chuckled.

"I am ok, Kitten. Really," he reassured.

Jessica nodded.

"Another one!" called a nurse.

Jessica sighed.

"I'll help. Tell me what to do," Garrus said as he looked at her for orders.

Jessica only nodded, "grab a pair of gloves."

0-0-0-0

Bryant sat on the sofa next to Aria as his mind tried to comprehend what he just heard.

"Wow…. wish I would have came a bit sooner," he murmured as his mind was in a bit of a pit.

"Yes, well. What is done is done. Archangel got what was coming to him. You don't come to Omega and try to change it," said Aria with a laugh. "Omega is freedom. So long as the one rule is followed, everyone is welcomed to Omega."

Bryant didn't like her tone. She really didn't care of any of it's citizens so long as she wasn't trifled with and everyone made wide berth whenever she came around.

"However, the Salarian Doctor, if you hurry, you might help him."

Bryant perked up at that, "explain."

"The district he is in has been… quarantined. I had it quarantined because suddenly people started to get ill. I don't want that coming into contact with me or the rest of my station," Aria elaborated.

"Then we need to go and help him," suggested Jacob as he looked at Bryant for an answer.

"Of course we will go help him. I failed one, I won't fail the other," Bryant said as he got up from the sofa.

"Yes, just, don't bring the plague back with you," Aria huffed.

Bryant smirked, "scared of little bacteria?"

"Your sister could play with me like that, but not you. So keep your head straight," smirked Aria back.

Bryant narrowed his eyes. How did she know about Celestine? Since when? Questions that he knew would never be answered. He knew his imaginary Celestine wouldn't tell him. Because she was just that, imaginary. He had no inkling of her past.

With a nod he walked off, Miranda and Jacob following close behind him.

0-0-0-0

With Garrus already understanding the basics on bedside manners, Jessica was helping at the front desk, cataloging everyone's name who came into the clinic.

"Ok. The last one is stable," said Garrus as he came from behind her.

Jessica nodded, deep in concentration with her current task.

"Heads up, three people claiming to only want to talk to the professor are coming in," said the security officer into her earpiece.

"Very well," Jessica answered.

"I need to speak to the prof- Garrus?"

Jessica looked up as sky blue eyes looked at the turian behind her.

"Bryant?!" Garrus responded incredulously.

"What are you doing here, Jefe?!" Bryant said excitedly as he extended his hand for Garrus to do their secret handshake.

Jessica raised a brow as Garrus and Bryant did their secret handshake.

"It's good to see you!" Bryant said with a grin.

Garrus laughed then groaned, "don't make me laugh, Bryant. My face is barely holding as it is."

Bryant held up his hand for him to see, "may I?" he asked.

Garrus nodded, turning to the side for Bryant to get a better look at the bandage.

"Dude, that must have hurt… what the fuck happened?" Bryant asked as his fingers softly touched the side of his face.

"Rocket to the face," said Garrus as he turned back to look at him.

"Damn, bro," Bryant laughed. "Didn't your mother teach you not be a superhero?" he snorted.

Garrus shook his head in amusement, "but it was so cool and with explosions!" he grinned as best he could.

Garrus paused and nodded in the direction of the human sitting behind the counter watching their exchange with a smile. Bryant's eyes were greeted with mischievous emerald eyes.

"Jessi?" Bryant asked confused.

"The one and only," she grinned.

Bryant laughed as he went to her and extended his hand for her to shake. They shook hands, always respectful of each other.

"Glad to see another friendly face," he smiled.

"I heard you were dead," she said.

Bryant paused for a moment looking away and nodded, "yeah. I was dead."

"How are you -?"

"No time for that. I need to speak to Professor Mordin Solus," Bryant cut her off.

Garrus moved to the side and pointed to the end of the hall.

"End of the hall to your right," he clarified.

"Thanks, Jefe," thanked Bryant with a pat to his arm and left down the hall with Miranda and Jacob following behind.

"Who do you think those two are?" asked Garrus softly to Jessica.

Jessica could only narrow her eyes. In that moment the fans were powering down and the room became slightly darker, only the emergency lights were turned on. Jessica got up from her chair and went to the end of the hall where Bryant was currently speaking to the Professor.

"Must stop plague first. Already have a cure. Need to distribute it at environmental control center. Vorcha guarding it. Need to kill them," said the Professor quickly.

Bryant inhaled deeply. Already knowing that the first fight was eventually going to be with organics.

"I'll get in and deal with the vorcha," said Bryant with a nod.

"I'll go with you," said Jessica from behind him.

"People need help here," said Mordin as he turned around to give Bryant the vials.

"I know this station. You need someone like me who knows the station and get to those controls faster," she challenged.

Bryant nodded, "then Garrus can come too. It would be good to talk to familiar faces," he said as he looked at them both.

"I am at your six," said Garrus.

"Garrus, you sure?" Jessica asked concerned.

Garrus nodded, his mandibles fluttered to give her a smile.

"You two stay here and help as best you can, if not then go back to ship," Bryant ordered.

Miranda narrowed her eyes, "all right. As you wish."

Jacob only saluted.

"Here, take plague cure. Also, bonus in good faith. Weapon from dead Blue Suns mercs. May come in handy against vorcha," said the Professor as he gave him a red pistol.

"Thanks, I will hold onto it then," Bryant grimaced.

"Come on! We don't have much time before this entire area is suffocated!" said Jessica as she walked out the room.

"Right behind you," murmured Bryant with a nod to the professor.

"One more thing," said the professor. Bryant paused and looked over his shoulder, "Daniel, one of my assistance, went into vorcha territory. Looking for victims. Hasn't come back."

Bryant nodded, "If I see him, I'll do what I can to help."

"Thank you," breathed in the professor in relief. "Told him not to go. But he's smart. Bright future. I hope," he grimaced at the end.

Bryant only nodded, "be back, professor."

"Mordin, is fine," he called out from behind him.

Bryant only shook his head.

0-0-0-0

Bryant rubbed his neck as his heart hammered in his chest. He really didn't know what to expect but he was sure that his gut was telling him that he wasn't going to like it.

' _Steel your resolve, Bryant.'_

Bryant sighed, "yeah, yeah."

Jessica looked at him with a raised brow, "yeah, yeah what?" she asked.

Bryant paused and looked at her with a sheepish smile, "nothing. Nothing."

Jessica looked at Garrus with a shrug and back to Bryant.

"Ok. Let's do this," said Bryant as he went through the door, Jessica locking it behind them. "I am so glad to be away from those two," Bryant commented as he took point.

"They seemed, Cerberus," questioned Jessica suspiciously.

Bryant nodded, "they brought me back it seems to fight the Collectors." Bryant looked around, his ear twitching as he walked forward slowly, "they're abducting human colonists. I can't let that continue."

Before Jessica could comment further on that, Bryant gave them a signal to stop. Two vorcha were on the other side. He signaled to Garrus to snipe them quickly and with a nod, Garrus got into position and sniped the two vorcha in the head. Bryant looked away as he did so. No matter who it was, it was never easy to take out a life.

"Reinforcements incoming," announced Jessica as she took the first cover in front of her, Bryant on the other side of her and Garrus stayed in the middle of them.

The firefight that ensued was hard for Bryant to get into. His body still needed to recover and the armor was not making it easier. Celestine in his mind also tried to tell him to keep his cool but he wouldn't listen. Of course he wouldn't. He just wanted this over with. He wanted to just sleep. Sleep forever.

"What the hell was that?" Jessica asked him a bit peeved once the fight was over.

"I just came back from the dead, Jessi," Bryant answered her with a deep sigh.

Jessica rubbed her neck at that omission. He said it so casual as if she asked him what was the weather like today. It was odd to hear such a thing.

"I believe that you are you, B, but I have to ask… you sure you're not… you know?" asked Garrus as he approached them.

"I don't know Garrus. I see myself in the mirror but even I don't know that answer," Bryant responded softly as he looked at his gun.

Garrus placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze to show his support.

"I believe it's you," he said with a nod.

Bryant smiled, "thank, Jefe. But I need to believe that. You know?"

Garrus nodded.

"Come on. We need to move, Jessi, take point. We are right behind you," ordered Bryant.

Jessica nodded.

She actually didn't know if she should believe him or not. He was presumed dead. Was it wasted credits to bring him back? Not entirely. But then again, the Alliance didn't want to do anything. Hackett and Anderson tried their damndest to continue the fight but the Council… the Council won it over. But if it's true… she couldn't stand by and allow them to take more colonists.

"So…" spoke up Bryant. "What made you leave the alliance?" he asked curiously.

Jessica paused in her step, debating if she should tell him.

"I left because the Alliance wasn't doing anything. I knew colonists were being abducted out of nowhere. That doesn't happen en masse. But the Alliance was taking the Council's side. I wasn't going to sit on my ass and wait for orders. I did my own investigation and it lead me to Omega," she explained.

"And you Garrus?"

"I was tired of the bureaucratic crap on the Citadel. Jessica asked me to come so I did. Thought I could make a difference here," Garrus paused at that. His mandibles fluttering. "It's over now."

Bryant wanted to comment further but now they were deeper into the station. And the bloodpack heavily fortified the location further into the station.

"This is going to take a while," grimaced Bryant as he got behind cover.

0-0-0-0

He didn't know how many times he had checked his messages, waiting for her reply. Everytime he would check, it was empty. He muttered curses to himself as he passed by his crew.

"Dammit, kid. Answer," he muttered to himself.

"Everything alright, Captain?" asked one of his staff.

He nodded without looking up from his current task and continued on his way to his quarters.

With a deep tired sigh he sat on his chair, ready to set up a report when something across from him caught his eye.

He didn't know how many times he stared at the damned blade. Heavy to wield but beautiful to stare at. He still couldn't believe the reports. Bryant couldn't be alive. That was impossible. Wasn't it?

He only shook his head and went to work.

0-0-0-0

"We're close to the environmental controls. Let's get that cure in, then hit the fans," announced Jessica from behind him.

Bryant nodded as they approached the last door to the controls.

"You no come here. We shut down machines, break fans!" said the vorcha running to them. "Everyone choke and die! Then Collectors make us strong!"

Jessica's eyes narrowed. Her suspicions coming to realization at that confession.

"What do the collectors want?" asked Bryant hopeful that the vorcha would stand down.

The vorcha hissed, "Collectors want plague! You work for doctor, turn on machines, put cure in air. We kill you first!"

Bryant's eyes widen and ducked behind the first cover he saw as Jessica and Garrus took their own cover. Rocket's were coming from the top and Bryant waved to Garrus. Garrus nodded and looked around for a better vantage point. He looked at Jessica but she was already using her biotics to make way for them to get to the controls.

With a shrug he tried to keep his mind focused.

' _Breathe, Bryant. Breathe,'_ advised Celestine in his mind.

He inhaled deeply and come out of cover, ramming into the vorcha and shooting them at point blank range.

' _Steel your heart. It's your survival vs. theirs and those who need you,'_ continued to advised Celestine in his mind.

Bryant was glad that for the time being it was over. He quickly typed a code in the keyboard and the fans came to life.

"Quick, take cover!" ureged Garrus as he took cover by the wall and aimed his sniper rifle.

More rockets aimed at them as they worked together to get to one side place. They needed to add the cure into the fans themselves. The vorcha and krogan made it difficult for him to catch up to Jessica and Garrus as they made quick work of them. He admired their way to use each other's strengths and weaknesses to help each other survive the ongoing assault.

"Last one," sighed Bryant as he entered the vial into the fan.

"Great work," praised Garrus.

"Thanks. Though I am very tired," he smirked.

Jessica was pensive, trying to put two and two together.

"Something on your mind, Jessi?" asked Bryant as he walked passed her, putting his shotgun on his lower back.

"Why is Cerberus investigating the Collectors?" she asked with suspicion.

Bryant turned to look at her, "I don't care who is investigating them, I want them stopped. If the Alliance and the Council won't help and Cerberus is, then I will use their resources to find them. I won't let our people just die with no hope of rescue. Plus the Reapers might be involved and Celestine died for this!" he snapped at the end.

Garrus looked downcast at that.

"I won't let her death mean nothing. Those fuckers won't be brought back," Bryant huffed.

Jessica nodded, "then I will join you."

Bryant raised a brow, "seemed to me that you won't work with the others aboard the Normandy."

Jessica furrowed her brows at that. She knew the Normandy was destroyed and the blueprints were classified. She shook her head, "I will work for _you_ and **not** Cerberus. I want to stop the reapers from coming back as well."

Garrus nodded, "I am going either way," he shrugged. "I want to… you know…"

Bryant nodded and smiled at him, "I don't hold it against you, Garrus. I never will."

Garrus nodded, understanding.

Their way back was a pleasant walk. Bryant walked ahead of Jessica and Garrus as they were talking softly to each other. Bryant actually felt better or more at peace with familiar faces.

' _Thank you…'_ said Celestine in his mind.

Bryant nodded, "don't thank me. He was only doing his job. For the greater good…"

' _Not many would have forgiven…'_

Bryant chuckled softly, "I guess I am one of the few…"

' _That you are little brother. That you are.'_

They finally arrived at the professor's clinic. Bryant was very happy to know that people were getting better.

"Commander!" a voice called out to him.

"Hey, David was it?" Bryant turned to the assistant.

"Daniel, actually. I wanted to thank you for rescuing me."

Bryant nodded, "anytime man. Just… don't get yourself under unnecessary trouble."

Daniel nodded and went back to work in his room, glaring at the Professor on the other side of the room.

Bryant raised a brow at that as he entered the one with the Professor currently praising Jessica and Garrus.

"So," began Bryant as he interrupted their meeting, "we've cured the plague. Are you ready to help stop the Collectors?" he asked Mordin.

Mordin nodded enthusiastically, "yes. Unexpected to be working with Cerberus. Many surprises," he sniffed.

Bryant shook his head, "I don't trust Cerberus but I need their resources to stop them," he elaborated. With a nod he turned around, "see you aboard the Normandy, Mordin."

Mordin looked at Jessica with a nod, "glad you coming along. Need help."

Jessica nodded, "anything I can provide I will."

0-0-0-0

Miranda paced back and forth as did Jacob as Mordin, Jessica and Garrus walked into the conference room.

"We only needed the professor," said Miranda as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Bryant raised a brow, "we need _all_ the help we can get. The illusive man isn't the only one with resources and connections."

Miranda nodded, "so, where do we put you two?"

Garrus raised a hand at that, "forward battery. I will take a look at the main gun."

"Jessica will help me. Her expertise and extensive knowledge in biology is not be turned," advised Mordin.

Miranda only narrowed her eyes as she walked out of the conference room.

"I will show you to your rooms then," said Jacob as he walked out of the room.

Bryant sighed with a rub to his neck and was surprised to see Jessica behind him.

"What?" he asked her with a raised brow.

"If we are going after the Collectors, we are going to need someone with extensive knowledge in technology," Jessica advised.

Bryant laughed, "I think I know enough about technology to work by myself in engineering."

Jessica smirked, "the more the merrier."

Bryant nodded, "alright. Who do you have in mind."

Jessica opened her omni tool without saying anything else.

0-0-0-0

 _Next time on Lonely Hearts in Space:_

"The collectors hit the colony hard. Think anyone got out of there alive?" asked one of the crew members aboard the Normandy. Bryant raised a brow at that.

"The colonists, no. Heard one of the ships is still there though."

"What colony is this?" asked Bryant as he interrupted their conversation.

Both the crew members were startled as they looked at him.

"New Canton," informed one of them.

Bryant's eyes widen at that, "shit…" he opened a channel to Jessica's earpiece.

"Go ahead," she answered.

"Isn't Gustav stationed at New Canton?" he asked her.

There was a moment of silence, "yes? Why?"

Bryant changed the channel, "Joker, I need you to fly faster. Gustav needs our help."

* * *

 **Translations:**

Mi cielo – means _my sky_ in Spanish

Tienes un problema, hijo? - means _do you have a problem son_ in Spanish

Papa – means _dad_ or _father_ in Spanish

Que tienes? - means _what's the matter_ in Spanish

Hijo – means _son_ in Spanish

Geai Bleu – means _blue jay_ in French

Mama – means _mom_ or _mother_ in Spanish

Vas a estar bien – means _you are going to be ok_ in Spanish

Jefe – means _boss_ in Spanish

* * *

Thank you so much for reading. Reviews are most certainly welcome.

-Much love, SerenityxGarrus


	2. Chapter 2 - February

Hello my wonderful readers! I bring another chapter! I am so sorry for the super long wait! Life and school has my attention!

 **ABOUT:** Lonely Hearts in Space was just a thought for a friend's OC with mine. And then this entire universe grew when another friend of mine started shipping their oc with mine. So this is how it came to be!

Read the summary and my profile for more updates. THIS IS A MONTHLY FIC. Which means that I will update this story every month.  
One chapter every month. This story is Canon Divergent as it has many changes from canon to get towards the end. It starts in Mass Effect 2.

This story is Rated M for Mature for NSFW scenes later. It will be suggestive here but on my blog it will contain the heavy stuff. (If I can write it lol.)

* * *

To know more about our OC's: You can find it here: djfatchip . tumblr .com (/) LonelyHeartsinSpace [Without spaces] - Visit my profile for the link.

* * *

At the bottom and top of every chapter there will be a translations for you all to go back to as some oc's are multi-lingual.  
I am Bilingual myself so my main characters will mostly speak Spanish and English. OC's Celestine and Gustav speak french at times as well.

Words for this chapter: 20,307

Pages for this chapter: 69

Note: 0-0-0-0 means that the story is transitioning to a new character or idea.

Without further ado, hope you enjoy the story! And check out our OC's!

* * *

 **Translations:**

 _Mierda_ \- Meaning Shit in Spanish

 _Siempre estoy contigo, mi Cielo. Siempre. Nunca estás solo_ \- Meaning I am always with you, my sky. Always. You are never alone in Spanish.

 _Geai Bleu_ \- Meaning Blue Jay in French.

Song Bryant is singing found on my blog profile.

 _Principito -_ Meaning Little Prince in Spanish.

 _No estas solo. Animo, hijo. Andale. -_ Meaning you are not alone. Chin up, son. Go on in Spanish.

 _M_ _erde -_ Meaning Shit in French

* * *

 **Lonely Hearts in Space**

 **Chapter 2 – February**

Red. The color of blood. Anger. She blinked once, the walls coming closer. Air no longer into her lungs. She looked at the far walls, they were closing, faster, trapping her within her own prison of emotions running rampant-

She exhaled softly as the doors to the main battery opened.

"You ok, Kitten?" asked Garrus behind her as he paused in his own musings.

She nodded, "yeah. I'm fine," she breathed in softly with a shake of her head. "Just going to check out the ship."

Garrus nodded as he looked over his shoulder. His ice blue eyes enjoyed to linger a bit longer, watching her leave with quiet, elegant steps. The way her wide hips sways from side to side as she placed a foot after the other. Garrus shook his head as his mandibles fluttered in appreciation of the small beauty that chose to stay by his side.

Emerald eyes looked around. No more were the blue walls around. Bright lights instead of soft dim ones. She smiled at Mess Sergeant Gardner as she walked down the small steps that lead to the mess hall. She turned her head, deep in thought, as she looked through the medical bay windows. Dr. Chakwas placing a datapad on her desk, filing it with the rest of the pile. Her eyes lingered on that datapad for a moment.

 _She placed a datapad with the rest on the table as she turned, a bit startled to see ocean eyes stare at her._

" _How long was I out, Blue?"_

 _She shook her head, "more than ten hours…"_

" _Shit… Fuck!"_

 _She went to her side. Her emerald eyes looking at ocean eyes in sadness._

" _You should rest, Midnight. Please."_

 _A deep sigh escaped her ruby red lips as she looked down at her own hands._

" _I can't, Blue. I just… can't…" she spoke softly._

 _Jessica placed her hand on top of her light brown ones that laid on her lap. She smiled reassuringly. Oceans eyes looked back at her._

" _It's going to be ok."_

 _She sighed again, nodded softly and laid back down. Relenting._

" _At least give me the reports. Don't leave me here without doing anything," she grouched as she crossed her arms over her chest._

 _Jessica giggled with a shake of her head as she went back to the table and handed her a stack of datapads, sitting next to her to tackle the paperwork together._

"You ok?" came in Bryant's soft southern hispanic accent, disrupting the memory, as he approached her.

"Yeah. I'm fine," she reassured as she turned around to look at his calm sky blue eyes.

Bryant raised a skeptical golden eyebrow at her but nodded nonetheless. Jessica never much shared what she felt with him anyway. He just hoped she was alright.

"I'm just checking out the ship," she elaborated as she looked around the mess hall. "Getting… familiar with it, I suppose," she shrugged.

"Cool. Let me know if there is anything you wished changed," he responded as he began to walk away, typing into his datapad he had in hand.

Jessica only nodded, turning around to look at the door to the Main Battery and then back in front of her, her mind already set to explore the ship.

0-0-0-0

"Alright Kaidan. You know what we have to do and I trust you to get it done," said the officer in command as he looked at the datapad in his hand. "Take Gustav and a small squad to the spaceport and get those towers working."

Kaidan saluted, did an about face and went to the small group of soldiers ready to instruct them to follow him to the spaceport where the towers were located. He turned his head, amber eyes landed on a tall man, sitting on a boulder, hunched slightly over, typing away at him omni tool. The morning wind softly rustling his short black hair.

"Gus! You ready?" he called out.

Steel-Blue eyes looked up from his omni-tool and nodded at Kaidan. His musings halting as he stood to full height.

"Come on," Kaidan gestured with his hand and looked at the four soldiers at the side, one staring at Gustav from a distance with a soft smile. "Hey, you four! Follow me!" he ordered as he lead the way.

The woman rolled her eyes, grabbed her assault rifle and walked slowly to Kaidan, waiting for Gustav to approach.

"This is so boring," she began to speak as Gustav walked beside her. She looked at him as he continued to look ahead, his bright blue eyes scanning the area ahead of him. "Aren't you bored?" she questioned in curiosity with a tilt of her head.

Gustav hummed, registering her voice, "you are always bored," he responded. He heard her say that same before in the last colony. Actually she had been saying that for a while. "Why join if all you do is complain?"

"That's a very good question. One I would like the answer to," chimed in Kaidan as he walked on the other side of the woman with the cheerful voice.

For Kaidan and Gustav, she much reminded them both of Ashley Williams. Except more cheerful and taller. Same brown hair and amber eyes. And a bit more positive than Ashley. Her name was Amilia. Gustav looked at the sky at the mere thought of Ashley. The dawn of the sky was a beautiful orange color. It reminded him of her eyes.

Amilia hummed, snapping Gustav out of his reverie and eyed her from the side. She smiled slyly and winked at Gustav, "for the view of course."

Gustav paused in his step, eyes narrowed as Kaidan and Amilia continued walking. It didn't go unnoticed by him the exaggerated hip sway she did with her heavy armor. Gustav shook his head, a faint blush spread across his nose and cheeks. With a clear of his throat he walked faster to catch up to them.

"I can't stand these missions. They don't even want us here," she huffed in slight annoyance as Gustav catched up to her.

"Whether they want us here or not, we have a mission to do," responded Kaidan with a soft grunt.

"Not like I was ever wanted anywhere anyway…" Gustav whispered to himself as his eyes finally saw the bunker where he had to work to get the towers on the other side, working.

Kaidan side-eyed Gustav when he made that small comment to himself. He shook his head as Amilia gasped softly in horror.

"What the fuck is that?!" she pointed to the massive object in the distance.

Kaidan and Gustav both took out their weapons, looking through their scopes to see the massive object that landed, creating a wave of dust to pick up and blow in their direction. They all covered their eyes, blinking and looking through their scope again. A dark cloud was coming at them, the hairs on Gustav's neck stood on end. It wasn't good.

"Gustav, get inside the bunker and get those towers operational," ordered Kaidan as he started to walk backwards. "Amilia, stay with him, you three with me!"

"But what about-" too late was Amilia's question as Kaidan ran in the direction of the central area of the colony. She heard a weapon being put away and the door behind her opening. She turned, to see Gustav go inside the bunker, her heart accelerated when screams behind her began to echo in her ears. She went into the bunker, closed the door and held her assault rifle tight. Her eyes looked at Gustav, observing him as he opened his omni tool and began to type away as quickly as he could to access the controls.

"Gustav…" she whispered in fear as she swallowed hard. He seemed unfazed by the screams outside.

At the soft whisper of horror, Gustav closed his eyes and exhaled softly. He didn't really know what to say. How to calm her mind. He just knew he had to work. So that is what he did, when he opened his eyes again and began to type away at the glowing keyboard in front of him, hacking away to gain access to the controls towers even if the screams out there, were getting loud.

There was a loud bang on the door, followed by another and then another until multiple loud bangs were interrupting his thoughts.

"Let us in!"

"Please!"

"Open this door!"

"Don't let us die!"

Amilia backed away from the door. Fear gripped her heart. When she woke up this morning, she wasn't prepared for something like this to happen. Her mind still barely waking up.

"Let them in," Gustav ordered of her calmly.

That seem to faze her back to reality of the situation. She opened the door, rifle in hand as many people ran into the bunker in a wave, almost stepping onto each other.

"Watch yourselves! Quickly, come on!" she instructed as she gestured to the people to get inside, touching their shoulders to guide them in. Her heart pounded in her chest as she heard rifles shooting in the distance.

"Close the door!" one of the civilians shouted in horror.

Amilia did as she was told and locked the door. She turned, eyes scanning to hear cries and soft murmurs among them. She didn't know what awaited outside. She only hoped that Kaidan was alright and as she looked to see Gustav working, she prayed that the towers were operational soon.

0-0-0-0

Bryant hummed a tune to himself as he read the datapad in his hand. He felt slightly better knowing he had two people who had familiar faces aboard the ship. Two people who he could count on and had no connection to Cerberus.

' _I like that melody,'_ responded Celestine's voice in his mind.

"I thought you might," he chuckled softly to himself as he walked towards the elevator after making sure Jessica was ok.

"The Collectors hit the colony hard. Think anyone got out of there alive?" asked one of the crew members nearby. Bryant paused in his step and raised a golden eyebrow at that.

"The colonists, no. Heard one of the ships is still there though…" commented the other.

"What colony is this?" asked Bryant as he interrupted their conversation, placing his datapad down on the table softly, hands on the surface, leaning close so no one else heard their conversation.

Both crew members were startled as they looked at him.

"New Canton," informed one of them.

Bryant's eyes widen at that. "Mierda!" he cursed loudly as he raised a hand to his ear, tapping his earpiece gently. "Jessica?"

"Go ahead," she answered.

"Didn't you tell me, Gustav is in New Canton?" he wondered as he picked up his datapad and went for the elevator.

There was a moment of silence on her end which had Bryant's heart pounding in his chest, waiting for her answer as the elevator stopped at his cabin's floor.

"Yes, he is. Why?" she questioned calmly.

"I need you to get ready, New Canton has been hit," Bryant responded as he entered his room and went to grab his armor.

"I am always ready," affirmed Jessica.

Bryant tapped his earpiece again and began to place his armor on.

"Joker, I need you to fly faster. Gustav needs our help."

"On it!"

0-0-0-0

Steel-Blue eyes narrowed as they stared at the numbers presented to him on his omni-tool.

"Gustav! Return back to the ship!," came in Kaidan's voice in his ear.

Screams echoed around him as he tried to drown them out. He had to continue working. He had to get these defense towers operational. He had to make it count. He couldn't leave without trying.

"And maybe even grab a cookie after this…" he whispered to himself.

"Gustav?! Can you he-" it cut off and Gustav exhaled softly, his fingers still typing away at the glowing keyboard.

"On it, Commander!" came Amilia's voice from across where he stood.

"Gustav, we have to go!"

Gustav ignored her, fingers continued to move, staring at his work, his mind trying to desperately not think of her voice, narrowing his eyes to concentrate.

"Gustav!" she shouted at him, grabbing his elbow to make him look at her.

Gustav sighed in annoyance, "I won't abandon them," he growled softly, pulling his arm away from her grasp and went back to the panel, his mind re-focusing at the task in hand.

Amilia could only stare at him in slight shock. He had never spoken to her that way. In the two years she had served alongside with him. She looked down, not knowing who to listen to. Her Commander or her Captain. She looked at the civilians huddled around, holding each other in fear and trying to comfort one another. Her eyes narrowed, determination sparkled in her amber eyes as she gripped her rifle tighter. Her heart set on her choice. She was going to protect these people and her Captain at all costs.

0-0-0-0

"ETA Joker?" asked Bryant as he left the armory with his shotgun in hand, checking it as he entered the elevator.

"60 seconds," responded Jeff over the PA system.

"Jessica?" he asked as the elevator stopped on the third floor and walked in Garrus fully armored and with his assault and sniper rifle on his back. Bryant nodded at him as the elevator door closed behind him and continued going down to the cargo bay floor.

Jessica didn't respond. He pursed his lips for a moment, almost asking again if she was ready when the elevator doors opened and he saw her, arms crossed, her hip cocked to the side, looking at him and Garrus with determination. Garrus, however, knew better, as her ingenious emerald eyes glanced into his ice blue ones. He saw worry and impatience. An urgency.

"Are **you** ready?" she asked him as he stood in front of her, his gun still in hand.

Bryant cocked his shotgun once and with a nod, placed it on his lower back, giving her his own determined calm stare, "always."

0-0-0-0

"Damn! Work you piece of shit!" Gustav cursed under his breath.

Everything was connected the way it was suppose to and yet it still didn't power on. The generator to the colony was a ways off from the bunker. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back slightly, trying to come up with a solution without leaving his post. He lost communications with Kaidan sometime ago. Only Amilia was with him and frightened civilians. His ears twitched as he slowly opened his eyes, drowning out the frightened whimpers and soft cries, he heard nothing. Silence.

"Gustav, why isn't the towers operational by now?" Amilia whispered softly as she stood next to him, her amber eyes scanning the civilians.

His eyebrows knitted together in annoyance, "it needs more power," he grouched and continued to type away at the glowing keyboard. "Ding deng dong dong ding…" he whispered to himself.

Amilia raised an eyebrow at that last part but nonetheless she nodded, holding on to her rifle, "I'll go and see if I can connect them."

Gustav paused for a moment, too late to turn around and tell her to stop. She was already out the door and the button turning red at her departure.

0-0-0-0

Emerald eyes narrowed as the shuttle landed on the far side of the colony. Something massive was on the other side. Sensing her tense, Garrus squeezed her hand softly, like he had done so many times. A habit to remind her that he was there and that everything was going to be alright. Her thoughts disrupted momentarily as she blinked and turned her head slowly until their eyes met. Her soft pink lips upturned into a ghost of a smile. He thought he was imagining it as he looked ahead at the object in the distance. He felt her hand squeeze his softly in return and let his hand go, instantly missing the comfort of her hand in his as she walked out of the shuttle, following Bryant.

Bryant's eyes took in the whole environment around him. Having that same feeling he did in Freedom's Progress: sorrow. He sighed softly as Jessica stood next to him, her eyes taking in the buildings and the hauntingly silent colony. The wind softly rustled her hair, the stench of death creeped into her nose, causing her to swallow hard, her heart pounded in her chest, already knowing some were dead.

"Empty," Bryant uttered softly as his voice intruded in her trouble thoughts. "It was the same on Freedom's Progress…" he added in with a shake of his head and took his shotgun from his back, rotating his shoulders once and took point, exhaling softly as he came to the first building, checking to see if anyone was around, hopefully hiding.

"Why are they targeting colonies?" Garrus voiced his thought out loud as his eyes widen in slight horror to see plates with food still on tables. His visor scanning and telling him, those plates were still warm.

"That's what we need to find out," Bryant responded as he went through the next building. He paused as he watched Jessica slowly stand, a small object in hand. He placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, looking away, closing his eyes as a soft sigh escaped her pink lips.

Garrus looked at them, he felt his heart drop to his stomach at the small doll in Jessica's hand that once belonged to a child.

Jessica closed her eyes, letting Bryant's hand fall to his side as she moved to the table in front of her and placed the doll on the table.

"We should have been here sooner…" Bryant said softly. Seeing dolls, just thinking of children in danger or dead, he knew brought her sadness. It brought him sadness too. An innocent's future taken from them. It wasn't fair.

Before Jessica or Garrus could respond, shots fired caught the trio's attention. Bryant, Garrus and Jessica looked at each other and quickly ran out of the building and up the small hill where they saw a person. By the looks of it, the person was wearing heavy armor. The person grunted as a slug went through her shoulder. The soldier took a step back, tripping on their own two feet.

"I got you," said Bryant as he caught the soldier before she fell completely back.

She looked up into his sky blue eyes, smiling in gratitude. Bryant returned her smile with one of his own.

' _Charming…'_ She thought of his dazzling smile as Bryant helped her get behind better cover.

"Got your six, Kitten," relayed Garrus through her earpiece.

Jessica smirked turning around to look at him, "like I need you at my six. You only want to stare at my ass."

Garrus laughed, "well no one told you to keep buying me mods to upgrade my scope!" And then he looked through his scope, humming appreciatively, "the view is quite nice the closer I magnify," he smiled as he saw her green eyes in his scope. Those green eyes that always made his heart skip a beat.

Jessica shook her head, turning back around as her biotics came to life. She counted to five and she lifted the first three of the several enemies in hiding, into the air and Garrus' sniper rifle rang out. She placed a barrier on herself and ran forward, jumping high, her biotics flaring out to draw the enemy out and on queue, they started to shoot at her.

"What's your name?" asked Bryant as he gestured to the gauntlet on her arm. "May I remove this?"

"Amilia," she responded with a cough and nodded to give him permission.

Before Bryant could proceed with removing the top gauntlet on her arm, a small wave of dust came at them. Bryant and Amilia covered their mouth and nose with their hands, coughing and then waving away the dust. Curious, Bryant leaned over from cover. His eyes widening in awe as he witnessed the way Jessica landed softly on her feet, the enemy, dead around her. The cold stare, the hands balled into fists, the way in which she stood, had Bryant captivated. The moment their eyes met, however, Jessica Shepard was replaced with his sister. No longer were ingenious green eyes staring back at him but stormy ocean depths. Bryant shook his head, blinking rapidly and looked at her again. She raised an eyebrow, slowly approaching him.

"You ok?" she asked him as he turned back to attend to Amilia.

"Fine," he answered dryly as he took off the gauntlet.

"Ouch," said Garrus beside them both as the three of them looked at the wound.

"What kind of weapon's fire is this?" asked Bryant, curious as he analyzed the wound on Amilia's shoulder.

Jessica turned on her omni tool and scanned her, "what happened here?" She began to ask as she placed Medi-Gel on the wound. "Where did they come from? Where is the rest of the colony?" she continued to bombard Amilia with questions.

Amilia softly groaned, "my commander and a small group of soldiers accompanied our chief engineer to the spaceport where he had to get the towers operational. We saw a massive ship land in the distance," she yelped softly as she tried to move her arm, exhaling a strained breath. "My commander told me to stay with our chief engineer as he went to the center of the colony. Next thing we know, we heard screams. We both were inside the bunker when people banged on the door, screaming in horror. My captain, the chief engineer, told me to open the door and let them in. They are still in the bunker. What is left of them anyway…"

A small sigh escaped her pink lips. She hoped that the Captain she was talking about was Gustav. She had hoped he was on his ship and not down here but then, the messages they sent each other detailed he had been helping colonies. If it was Gustav that Amilia was talking about, then he was safe and alive. Her anxiety not leaving her alone until she absolutely knew that he was fine and well in front of her. Resolved to not leave the colony until she saw him.

Bryant looked around as Garrus looked at the towers ahead, "that was some suicide run you did… the towers and the bunker are a ways off…" he informed impressed.

"Why aren't the towers operational?" asked Bryant as he looked at the massive object in the distance.

"The towers need more power. That's why I took the risk. They… those things… they took the colonists and placed them in pods…" she said horrified.

"Pods? For what purpose?" asked Jessica curious as she went to scan the blood stains and the enemy body nearby.

"Garrus, see if you can place more power to the towers," ordered Bryant as he began to analyze the dead bodies of the enemies, his eyes alert, looking around for anyone nearby.

"On it!" acknowledged Garrus and went into the building next to Amilia.

"I don't know for what purpose… there was a massive dark, cloud coming our way and then people just were screaming… one civilian said that the dark cloud carry bugs… the bugs touch you and you become -"

"Paralyzed," finished Bryant sentence for her as he stood up and closed his eyes.

Jessica raised an eyebrow as she too got up and stared at him.

"In Freedom's Progress, I met Tali," Bryant began.

"Tali? She is doing well?" Jessica asked a bit happy to hear about her quarian friend.

Bryant nodded, "yeah. She was leading a small squad through the colony to find one of their people. His name was Veetor. Veetor survived the colony attack. He pieced together security footage and in that footage, this enemy, the Collectors, placed the colonists in pods. They were paralyzed. Unable to move. Veetor explained as such."

"Wait," Jessica shook her head, trying to place everything he just said in order. "What was Veetor doing in a human colony and why wasn't he taken?"

Bryant shrugged, "we thought maybe it was his suit that didn't appear in the Collectors, scanners. Even he, himself, didn't know why they didn't take him. As for why he was there, he was there on pilgrimage and they can choose where to go. Veetor chose a small colony as he is nervous in crowds and such," Bryant finished explaining.

"I see," Jessica concluded going into deep thought for a moment.

"I need to get back to my Captain. He needs to know that i'm alright," Amilia informed as she got up, holding her rifle in her hands. She winced as she tried to move her arm to grip the rifle better.

"Oh no. You are in no condition to fight," advised Bryant. "Stay with us. We will get you there safely," he promised with a nod.

Amilia sighed in slight annoyance but nodded nonetheless. She was injured and she couldn't shoot straight if there were more enemies nearby.

"Got it!" shouted Garrus from inside the building.

Jessica turned around as Bryant and Amilia looked ahead, seeing the towers rotate and began shooting at the ship. The three of them walking forward, Garrus close behind as he left the building to join them.

0-0-0-0

Gustav closed his eyes, dragging his hands down his face in annoyance. A soft whimper caught his attention, letting his hands fall to his sides and he looked at the civilians he had under his watch. They all seemed lost and part of him felt for them. He just didn't know what to say to make them have less fear. Or even how to make them feel better. The whimper caught his attention again and it came from a teen girl, with long black hair, knees to her chest, holding herself nearby. He blinked, his mind wandered to a face, long ago forgotten, if only for a split second and then vanished from his sight.

He shook his head with a tired sigh as a beep sound from the console made him turn his head away from the little teen girl and back to his task. He raised a brow as finally the towers had full power. All he had to do now was aim and fire.

The bunker rumbled as the towers moved and fired at the ship. He quickly left out onto the spaceport to witness it leave. A massive wave of dust came at him, covering his face. He coughed, waving away the dust as it subsided once the ship was out of the planet, his eyes narrowed, his mind racing with so many questions and he needed answers to them all.

0-0-0-0

Soft cries and murmurs were surrounding her. Emerald eyes scanned every civilian that came out of the bunker. All scared and lost. She approached each and everyone that came out of that bunker, asking if they were ok. Some were grateful and others just couldn't snap out of it.

"Captain!"

Jessica turned her head at hearing Amilia's voice. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest as she watched Amilia approached a man over six feet tall, hunched over the panel of the towers, muttering to himself. She inhaled deeply in relief, her worries melted away at seeing him safe. She smiled softly as she approached them.

Steel-Blue eyes looked up to find Amilia alright and in front of him. Amilia saluted at him and turned around, ready to introduce the people who saved her life but was interrupted as Jessica beat her to it.

"Excuse me but do you know which way the programmer went?" she asked as she stood near him with her hip cocked to the side and a hand on her hip.

His eyes landed on mischievous emerald eyes. Her small pink lips upturned into a sly smile.

"He went data way," he responded with a smile of his own.

Jessica giggled and punched him in the arm.

"Ah, I see you two are acquainted?" Amilia asked with a raised brow.

Gustav nodded as he turned back to the console.

"I will leave you two alone to catch up then…" said Amilia as she looked between the two and walked away.

"Why don't you answer your messages, girl…" demanded Gustav.

"Sorry. I forget about them…" Jessica replied. "And i'm not a girl," she huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Why are you here? How are you here?" he asked as he looked at her. His expression now serious. His smile gone replaced by a frown. "Command never said they were sending another ship."

"I came to ask for your help."

Gustav raised a brow in confusion at that.

"We need a tech expert -" she began.

"We? Who is _we_?" he interjected.

Jessica hummed, "The Normandy needs a tech expert."

Gustav's mind raced as he remembered the faces aboard the Normandy SR1 the times he visited for missions. "The Normandy was destroyed…" he said softly, remembering the news and the panic he had that he thought he would have lost Jessica and Ashley in that horrible attack.

Jessica blinked rapidly as she remembered Bryant telling her to get out and help those she could to the pods. That he had Jeff and would be right behind her. She nodded slowly, "it is destroyed. The SR1 is destroyed…" she paused for a moment. "It was rebuilt. It's now The Normandy SR2."

Gustav shook his head, "The Normandy is a classified ship. No one, not even the Alliance, rebuilt it. Who would rebuild it?"

Jessica sighed softly, "Cerberus."

Gustav's eyes widen, "Cerberus? Are you telling me you are with Cerberus?!"

Jessica narrowed her eyes, "like hell I would willingly be with those fuckers. I am working for my own reasons. Bryant Leon Shepard. You remember him right?"

Gustav nodded as a tall man with sky blue eyes and golden hair, smile bright appeared in his mind. "He is dead… wasn't he?" now skeptical of what he was saying.

Jessica nodded looking down her face now in sorrow, "he was…" she whispered as her mind took her back to that fateful day.

 _She stared at the Normandy as the unknown ship decimated what was left of the SR1. Of what was left of her home. Her anxiety rising as her eyes scanned the empty void of space and the debris for the last pod that would be ejected from the cockpit._

" _There!" said Kaidan beside her._

 _She looked and saw Jeff's pod from a distance._

" _Joker? Can you hear me?" she radioed in from her earpiece as her hand softly touched the device in her ear._

" _Jess?..." came in his haunted voice._

 _Jessica paused as she heard his voice._

" _Jess… I… I didn't… I never…"_

" _You never what, Joker? Where is Bryant?"_

" _Jess… I failed… Lighting… forgive me…"_

 _Jessica's hand fell to her side as realization hit her hard. She sat on her seat, lost in thought as her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened. How it happened._

" _Jess? What happened? What did he say?" came in Kaidan's voice beside her._

" _Bryant…" she looked at amber eyes in shock. "Bryant didn't make it…"_

" _You lie!" came in Ashley's voice in hurt surprise._

 _Jessica looked down at her hands,_ " _I… I should have stayed… I should…"_

 _Kaidan sat in his seat as their pod was dancing in the dark void. The occupants now in quiet shock as the realization hit them all. Their Commander went down with the ship._

Jessica swallowed hard. He was back. That's what her eyes saw. But she didn't know if that was _really_ Bryant. For all she knew, he was a clone or… a cruel joke. A reminder that she failed to protect him.

" _No matter what happens. Protect Bryant. He is… everything."_

She remembered her soft-spoken french voice. The way her ocean eyes started at her with great uncertainty. And then she was taken from her. She couldn't save her best friend either. She failed. It was all just a cruel joke that life was playing with her.

' _Or a second chance…'_ her mind tried to reason.

"He was dead. He was resurrected by Cerberus to investigate the Collectors," she replied to Gustav's question.

"Are you crazy?" he asked of her as he took a step back to gauge her face. "They hurt you! They did horrible experiments! They do horrible things!"

"I know, Gustav. But the Alliance isn't going to do anything. Colonies have been disappearing en mass. If Cerberus is willing to expel that many resources to bring back Bryant and rebuild The Normandy then we should use those resources to **save** those colonists!" she argued.

Gustav shook his head, "I cannot believe what i'm hearing. The Alliance saw the ship -"

" _One_ ship! You really think they are going to listen? This is why I left the Alliance!" she snapped. "They won't listen. And people are disappearing and suffering who knows what! Those defensive towers won't do much! It's a fucking sham!"

Gustav looked passed her to the wall ahead of him. "They will do something. Our ship saw and witnessed what happened. I cannot just leave."

Jessica shook her head in disapproval, "if you want to waste your time, banging your head at them, go for it. I came to ask for your help and to help these people," she turned on her heel and began to walk away. "I hope they listen to you, _Captain_." she emphasized his rank in annoyance as she left the bunker.

Gustav sighed as he turned back to the panel and downloaded all the data that the defense towers had and the blueprints for it. Maybe he could do something better for the next colony. He just knew he had to do something. But yet in his mind, Jessica was never wrong. He looked back to the exit she left through.

"I want my skycar…" he whispered to himself. "Not enough in the savings," he responded to himself.

He sighed in annoyance.

0-0-0-0

"There. You will recover," said Bryant as he finished patching up Amilia.

"Thanks," she replied in gratitude. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Bryant nodded as he placed the supplies back into the first aid kit.

"That woman and my Captain…" she began her question with a tilt of her head, now a bit uncertain if she should ask. "Do… Do they know each other?"

Bryant chucked. He had heard the sound in her voice before. Jealousy.

"Yes. They are very old friends. That is all I know," he responded.

"Is she… an ex?" she leaned forward to see into his eyes for the answer.

Bryant turned his head to look at her and smiled, "don't know." He shrugged, "you should ask them," he advised as he stood up.

Amilia frowned and stood up as well. Her heart heavy in her chest at the mere thought that they were together. She had suspicions of Gustav being with someone. But he never talked about it. Or anything about his private life. Always to himself, away from everyone, isolated. Always seeking solitude.

Bryant only shook his head at her pensive look.

"Amilia! Are you alright?"

Bryant's ears perked up at the familiar voice.

"Commander Alenko, sir!" saluted Amilia quickly as she was snapped out of her thoughts.

"At ease, Amilia. I'm glad you are ok," his amber eyes scanned her quickly and then landed on golden hair and sky blue eyes. "Bryant…" he breathed.

"Kaidan. Commander now huh?" Bryant smirked.

Kaidan responded shocked as he approached him, "you were dead…"

Bryant sighed and nodded once, "I was…" he reassured. "I was resurrected…" he said softly with a shake of his head. "It's… good to see you…" he smiled, changing the subject. His eyes began to water, seeing more familiar faces made him happy. He missed everyone he was familiar with. He was happy to find his family again.

Kaidan looked at Amilia, "get Gustav and both of you report back to the ship."

"Aye, Aye," Amilia saluted to Kaidan and then nodded at Bryant in gratitude.

Bryant return the nod and watched as she ran to the bunker.

"I… We mourned you… I… why didn't you contact me?" Kaidan said angrily suddenly as he turned his head to stare at him. "I would have followed you!"

Bryant raised a brow at that, "follow me where? I was in a fucking medical table, Kai."

Kaidan shook his head, "for two years… I…" he glared at him.

Bryant rolled his eyes. The moment now gone, "I was dead. Cerberus just spent two years -"

"Cerberus?!" Kaidan interjected. "Are you fucking nuts?!" he began to yell at Bryant.

"First, calm the fuck down. Second, no i'm not fucking nuts. It's fucking truth," Bryant argued back.

"Have you forgotten the horrible shit they have done? The things done to -"

"Don't. Finish. That. Sentence. Alenko," Bryant threatened. His biotics slightly ghosting on his armor as his anger started to rise.

Kaidan paused as he saw the anger in his eyes. He was suddenly reminded of his sister. Always angry. As if she knew of rage and hate only and nothing else.

"I know what Cerberus has done. You don't need to fucking remind me," Bryant inhaled deeply as he tried to find some calm in his mind. "However, i'm not working _for_ them. They brought me back and gave me a ship. I will take down our enemy using _their_ resources. If no one else is going to do anything about the disappearing colonies then I will," he finished clarifying.

Kaidan began to pace in front of him, shaking his head in denial of his justification to work with the enemy.

"I have to report back to the Alliance. I will tell them everything you have said. I know they won't sit on their asses and let our people out there without any defense to attack back," Kaidan concluded as he turned on his heel.

"You don't have to go. You can help me, defeat them. Besides, Jessica left the Alliance because they wouldn't listen and she is never wrong. They dismissed everything she said."

Kaidan stopped walking and sighed looking at the ground, "I cannot believe what i'm hearing. You two working for the enemy…"

Bryant sighed in annoyance, "did you not hear what I said?"

"I will never work for or under Cerberus. My loyalties lie with the Alliance. I put my faith in them…" Kaidan began to walk away again. "Light would be disappointed in you both."

With that, Bryant watched Kaidan disappear from sight. That was a hard pill to swallow.

" _Light would be disappointed in you both."_

Bryant closed his eyes as he felt defeated. As if he had gone through an entire army all by himself. A tear fell, hitting the grass as his words echoed in his mind.

" _Light would be disappointed in you both."_

' _Bryant…'_

Bryant opened his eyes and looked up at the sound of her soft, silvery, french voice. She stood before him. Short white dress with a long fishtail and knee long black raven hair softly dancing with the wind. Light brown skin glowing softly with the sunset. Ocean eyes looking at him with calm. Kindness.

She approached him, looking up at him as she stood in front of him. Her hands cupping his face. Her ruby red lips upturned into a smile.

0-0-0-0

Gustav left the bunker, following Amilia out when he saw familiar golden hair in the distance. He blinked as he softly walked in his direction, stopping over the small hill. He watched as Bryant placed his hand on his own cheek and leaned into his own hand. His lips moving as if he was speaking to someone in front of him even though there was no one around or in front of him. The display made him feel a little sad.

"Gus?" came Amilia's soft voice from behind him.

Gustav turned around to address her and then back to Bryant only to see that he had left the area.

"Coming…" he responded to her as he turned around and followed Amilia back to their kodak and onto their ship.

0-0-0-0

Garrus was waiting inside to the shuttle when Jessica appeared.

"So? Is he coming?"

Jessica huffed a bit angrily. "No. He couldn't just leave. He believes the Alliance will believe what him and his ship witnessed."

Garrus shook his head at that.

"How are the civilians?" asked Bryant softly as he entered the shuttle last.

"Traumatized but the Alliance will see to them," responded Jessica as the shuttle closed its door and began to fly out of the colony.

Bryant nodded as he sat down and placed his face on his hands sighing in slight defeat.

"I saw Kaidan…" commented Jessica softly.

"Yeah… I just talked to him…"

"What did he say?"

Bryant leaned over, elbows on his thighs as his hands went through his hair and locked behind his head. "That Geai Bleu would be disappointed in us for working with Cerberus even _after_ I explained that I wasn't working for them… I even asked him to come with me but he said he wouldn't betray the Alliance. He knows where his loyalties lie." Bryant sighed, "guessing Gustav probably said the same?"

Jessica nodded, "pretty much… not in those words but, he can't leave his post. He does have a point but… he thinks they will listen. Because his ship witnessed it."

"At least it wasn't for nothing. I am glad we were able to get those defense towers operational…" Bryant responded weakly.

"Yeah…" both Garrus and Jessica responded softly with a nod.

Jessica shook her head and mimicked Bryant's position. Both pensive in the words Gustav and Kaidan had told them. Both a bit lost.

"We are here with them to save the colonists. If the Alliance won't do anything or The Council, then we use what we can. We are here for them," Garrus reminded them.

Bryant and Jessica nodded. Both knowing that. Still, ties to Cerberus was going to hinder this mission. Cerberus was not to be trusted. In Jessica's mind, she knew that. But part of her was relieved to have Bryant back.

" _It's still Cerberus behind his resurrection…'_ her mind reminded her. ' _Imagine how he feels…'_ her mind tried to reason. Jessica sat straight as she looked at Bryant. He was still downcast, eyes closed.

"Be real with me you two…" spoke up Bryant as he sat up straight and looked between Jessica and Garrus. "Do you trust _me_?"

Garrus stared at him for a moment trying to get his mind to focus on the question. Trust was a heavy word to just throw around. And they all had to work together to make sure The Collectors were defeated and the Reapers weren't to come back. The trio knew that Cerberus was not to be trusted. Garrus trusted Jessica in all that was him and vice versa. But then it came to Bryant.

' _Was he trustworthy?'_ he asked himself.

"I don't know, Bryant. And that is the truth," spoke up Jessica. "Cerberus brought you back but it's still Cerberus. And with them… there are many unknowns. Even you have said it yourself, you don't even know if it's actually you when you look in the mirror. Trust is not a commodity to just throw around. It's earned."

"I believe it's you but even I have my own… doubts. As she said, it's still Cerberus but I won't abandon you or those colonists," added in Garrus.

Bryant nodded. It was fair what they have said. If he, himself, couldn't even answer that question, he really asked a stupid question to them. In the end it still was Cerberus. And he was brought back by them.

"Then I will have to earn your trust."

Garrus and Jessica looked at each other and then back at him as he stood. The shuttle docking inside the cargo bay. Doors opening Bryant was the first to leave. Jessica and Garrus stood but didn't leave the shuttle yet.

"I want to trust him…" she said her thought out loud.

"I know. I can see it."

Jessica sighed as she left the shuttle, followed by Garrus. Both pensive in the entire situation.

0-0-0-0

Kaidan sighed, leaning on the desk to support him. He was so exhausted. The day wasn't a good one and now that he had a moment to reflect, he felt that he might have said something a bit to hard.

' _I shouldn't have said that…'_ he berated himself. The door to the conference room opened, and walked in Gustav as his amber eyes looked up to see him.

Gustav saluted, "you called for me?"

"Yeah, Command wants us to go back to Arcturus Station to question us. Also evaluate what we witness was accurate."

Gustav narrowed his eyes as he stood straight, hand going to his side, "what do you mean, go back to Arcturus Station? Almost the entire colony was taken!"

Kaidan sighed as he stood to full height, grabbing the datapad in front of him and turning to him. "I know, Gus. I was there. But orders are orders. It's what they said to do. And we have to do them."

"Did they at least tell the other ships out there and warned the other colonies about this attack?"

Kaidan shook his head, "they need to question us. And they don't want a mass panic."

Gustav shook his head, "call Command and tell them to -"

"I already tried Gustav. I did all I could to make them see reason but they told me to return to the station. I have no choice but to turn this ship around and go there."

Gustav couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So… they are not going to do anything? Not even warn them…"

Kaidan shook his head, "they won't warn them until they know for certain."

" _Colonies have been disappearing en mass."_ What Jessica had told him, echoed in his mind.

"Has the Alliance known about the disappearing colonies?" Gustav inquired as he glared at the floor.

Kaidan mused over his question. "Yes. They have heard the rumors. They have sent teams to check out the said rumors and found empty buildings but nothing else. They don't want to create a mass panic over just rumors."

" _Colonies have been disappearing en mass."_

Gustav shook his head as he closed his eyes.

" _Colonies have been disappearing en mass."_

"How many more lives must be taken before the Alliance mobilizes…." he whispered to himself as he did an about face and began to walk out of the conference room.

"Gus wait!" called out Kaidan as he ran after him.

"Once we dock, i'm leaving to the Citadel."

"For what?" asked Kaidan as he caught up to him.

Gustav didn't say anything else as he went into his room and left Kaidan at the door.

0-0-0-0

" _Light would be disappointed in you both."_

Even if Celestine in his mind told him otherwise, he couldn't help but feel that what Kaidan said was true. Some part of his mind just told him that she would be disappointed in him. He could've taken the ship and went to the Alliance and - he shook his head. Even if he had gone to the Alliance, they still wouldn't believe him and take the ship to take apart and see what was new about it without much care of what was happening. He was dead for two years and he started to wonder if the colonists were disappearing for two years. That idea horrified him. That the people he served under, the people his father gave everything to, would leave those colonists defenseless. He couldn't even think straight by just the sheer volume of that thought alone. Those were too many souls gone and being taken to who knows where.

Bryant shook his head and left his cabin to go to the CIC.

"How long until we arrive at Korlus?" asked Bryant from the galaxy map.

"About thirty minutes or so. Might want to start suiting up," answered Jeff from the cockpit's PA system.

Bryant nodded and turned to Kelly, "can you tell Garrus and Miranda to join me in the cargo bay please."

"Right away, Bryant."

Bryant went back to his cabin and took out his armor. He sat down as he looked at his armor.

"Hmm… might need to -"

He took a marker that was on his nightstand and began to place small marking on parts of his armor to adjust later. He didn't have time to make the changes at the moment but when he got back, he was sure to make it happen.

"Bryant. We are at the planet," announced Jeff.

"Be down in a second," he answered as he placed his armor on and with a final adjustment to his gauntlets, left the cabin. He met Miranda and Garrus already inside the shuttle, both of them looking anywhere but at each other.

Bryant sighed, "we have to work together. Please try to get along," he advised as he took his seat next to Miranda for Garrus to have more space.

"I can get along, Bryant," said Miranda as the shuttle took off. She crossed a leg over the other and crossed her arms, leaning back on her seat.

"So can I," said Garrus softly as he still continued to look at the wall next to him.

Bryant shook his head, "Miranda. Is it possible to get another room?"

Miranda turned to look at him with a raised brow, "is something wrong with the cabin?"

"Ah… how do I explain…" he mused over his answer. "Nothing is wrong with the cabin but I just… I can't be in it… it makes me feel… too alone…" he added softly at the end.

Miranda raised a brow but nodded nonetheless. "Very well. Any room you wish to have?"

Bryant shrugged, "I will take a look at the rooms again. I don't need it big. Small is fine. With room for myself. I just need a small room."

Miranda tilted her head as her eyes looked at the dark ceiling in thought. "The only small room is the crew's quarters and Life Support. However, it's a bit airy in there."

Bryant nodded, "I will take it."

The kodak landed on the planet. Miranda was the first to leave once the doors opened, followed by Bryant and then Garrus last.

Bryant took out his shotgun from his back and got behind cover. He exhaled, getting his mind to stay focused on the mission.

"The dossier doesn't say if Okeer is on this planet by choice," Bryant began to explain as he turned his head to look at Miranda. "Assume hostiles."

Miranda nodded.

"There is only one measure of success: kill or be killed! Perfection is your goal," came a voice over loud speakers.

"Broadcasting orders over loudspeaker? Charming," voiced Miranda.

'Someone enjoys the sound of their voice," added in Garrus as he followed Bryant.

"Who doesn't like their own voice," Bryant sighed and shook his head. Banter was easy to get into but he felt drained. He didn't feel like himself. "Stay focused. We're looking for a krogan warlord."

"Right," said Miranda and Garrus as they followed Bryant.

0-0-0-0

"And that is all that happened, sir."

"I see…"

Gustav's eyes scanned the four Admirals in front of him. They asked question after question. He hated being integrated. As if he did something wrong.

"Are you positive this is what happened, Captain Bertrand?"

"Do you doubt what I have seen, Admiral?"

Amber eyes looked back at him through her glasses. She scanned his face, gauging any reactions.

"In truth, yes. I am a bit doubtful. But yet all those colonists and those who served with you, also mentioned Cerberus. Is it a coincidence that Cerberus was there as was the attack?"

Gustav's eyes narrowed, "Cerberus had nothing to do with it -"

"Do you have actual proof that Cerberus wasn't involved?"

Gustav paused for a moment to dissect the question itself. Did he have proof? Would it even be enough to mention Jessica? Would that get her in trouble? He didn't know. But she did say the truth. And this was just a waste of time.

"Colonies are disappearing en mass, Admiral. We should mobilize the fleet to help them!"

"I didn't know you were giving orders now, Captain." She placed her glasses down on the table and looked at him with a cold stare. "The truth of the matter is that you have no proof. And unless you can prove to me and us, here and now that Cerberus was not involved, we will not arouse a massive panic."

"Admiral, please listen, Colonies -"

"That's enough, Captain. You may leave the room."

Gustav softly growled and muttered curses to himself as he got up from his chair and left the room.

"Gus!"

Gustav didn't stop walking as he went straight for the human resources office.

"Gus, stop!"

A hand grasped his forearm making him turn around with a glare.

"What?" he softly growled.

"Are you really leaving? I need you aboard the ship, Gus-"

"There are plenty of people in engineering to help, Kaidan. I will not sit idly by and let more colonies disappear. If the Alliance isn't going to help, then I will do something about it."

Kaidan sighed letting his arm go. "Be careful."

Gustav nodded, entering the office leaving Kaidan to contemplate the actions being taken by the Alliance.

0-0-0-0

"You gave me time, Bryant. If I knew why the Collectors wanted humans, I would tell you," came Okeer's voice as Bryant, Miranda and Garrus ran into the lab. He looked near the tank only to see Okeer dead.

Bryant sighed as he closed the scientist's eyes, placing his shotgun behind his lower back. He stood and looked inside the tank.

"Why would someone so fanatical sacrifice himself for one krogan?" wondered Garrus.

"No telling what Okeer jammed into this thing's head. Releasing it may not be wise," advised Miranda.

Bryant sighed, "you are right Miranda. He is an unknown. I don't know what will happen once he is out. I need time to analyze all possible scenarios. Take him aboard the ship for now and keep him in the tank. Lock that door."

"Affirmative," nodded Miranda.

Bryant placed his hand onto his earpiece and with a sigh gave the order for the krogan to come aboard. He looked back at the tank with narrowed eyes, "and he's a big one."

"Copy that," said Jeff in his earpiece.

0-0-0-0

" _What the hell was that Shepard?"_

 _Emerald turned around to address her captain as she stood in front of her a few feet away._

" _That was me making sure everyone got out alive."_

 _Ocean eyes narrowed. Rage filled her eyes._

" _In this ship, you will do as I command, Shepard. Do I make myself clear? I will not lose a crew member to heroics."_

 _She huffed in annoyance, "I know what I am doing, Captain. And that was not me trying to be heroic. I was only -"_

" _You were almost left behind and possibly could have died by not listening to orders!"_

" _I had to make sure Liara got here safely! She is top prio-"_

" _Bullshit. I don't want fucking heroics! That shit doesn't impress me. That shit annoys me. Obey the orders given to you, Commander Shepard, are we clear?"_

" _And lose, Liara T'Soni? The woman who can tip the scales?" she questioned._

" _What scales? She doesn't even know why the geth were after her, nor does she know what the fuck we are looking for."_

 _Emerald eyes narrowed at that. "We still need a prothean expert and I am willing to do what it takes to get this mission done."_

 _She shook her head, "this is why you have two people with you on missions. If I want you to go alone, I would have said so. I'm not losing a brilliant woman to heroics."_

 _Jessica pursed her lips at that._

" _I know you are beyond brilliant, Commander. I will take you over anyone. I know brilliance when I see it. Follow orders. Are we clear?"_

 _She only nodded._

Soft pink lips smiled as she remembered their first almost argument as she scanned the entire ship for anymore bugs that Cerberus planted around. She sighed softly as she waited for her program to scan the ship. Her heart always remembered those she lost. A burden she carried alone. She closed her eyes and their faces appeared in the dark. Smiles of better times. She shook her head and looked at her omni tool again, nodding and satisfied that there were no more bugs to destroy.

As she turned off her omni tool, her ears perked up to the sound of voices inside the elevator. She drank the last of her coffee and placed the cup in the sink, quickly walking to the elevator.

"Don't touch anything!"

"He is so real looking…"

"Just don't touch anything. The Commander will get angry. He was specific on this."

Jessica hummed and pressed the button for the elevator to return back to her floor. She entered the elevator once it appeared and went down a floor. She looked to her left, seeing two of the crew placing a huge tank inside the room on the far left. She went inside the first door to engineering and waited by the doors, leaning on the wall with her arms crossed as she heard the two crew members walking away and back to the elevator.

She left the engine room and went through the door, raised an eyebrow as she stared at the krogan in the tank.

"You are not authorized to be in this room, Jessica." Announced EDI in the room.

"Why is he in the tank?" she asked as she neared the tank.

"It is advised you leave the tank alone, Jessica. Bryant was clear that no one should be in this room. And the Krogan stays inside of the tank. The Krogan is an unknown and Bryant needs time to analyze all scenarios to be prepared to deal with the Krogan."

"Scenarios?" Jessica shook her head. "That could take forever, at the speed he gets things done. He shouldn't stay there. I'm opening the tank EDI," she declared as she went to the controls of the tank.

"You are not authorized-"

"Fuck authorization. We will deal with this now. He shouldn't stay inside the tank," she interjected EDI. "No one should be left to be caged."

"Very well, Jessica. The controls are online. The switch - and consequences - are yours."

Jessica shook her head and pressed the button on the panel for the tank to begin its process of draining the water inside. She took a step back, her emerald eyes observing the tank cautiously as it drained and the glass opened, the Krogan fell to it's knees, coughing up the water it was in. She took a step forward to help him but he was quick to look at her and slowly get up to full height. She paused, as the krogan blinked once, twice, his mind sparking words in his mind to create images as he looked at her. Instinct to survive kicked in for Jessica as the krogan ran to her, picked her up by her waist and tackling her to the crates nearby.

Her eyes closed, grunting softly as she took the small impact. She glared at the krogan. Bright blue eyes stared at her fierce emerald green as the krogan's forearm on her neck held her against the crates.

"Human. Female," the krogan analyzed. "Before you die, I need a name."

"I'm Commander Jessica Shepard, that good enough?"

The krogan shook it's head, "not your name. Mine. I am trained, I know things, but the tank…" he paused. "Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow," he huffed at the end. "Warlord, legacy, grunt... Grunt," he paused as he repeated the word in his mind. "Grunt, was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do," he softly growled. "I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."

Jessica huffed, "why does everyone want to die all of a sudden?" she asked sarcastically. "Why do you want me to try and kill you?"

"Want?" questioned Grunt as he blinked twice. "I do what I am meant to- fight and reveal the strongest. Nothing in the tank ever asked what I want," Grunt shook his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. That imprint failed. He has failed," he smiled at her. It was a dangerous smile. One that should place fear within her.

She wanted to laugh. It was cute.

"Without a reason that's mine, one fight is as good as any other. Might as well start with you," he concluded with a smirk.

Jessica hummed softly, "tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Someone is a very bad krogan. I released you, you know. I could have left you in there. Caged. For a year. I mean, you won't stand a chance, let's face it, i'm not just an ordinary human and you can see it."

Grunt raised a brow.

"I may be tiny but I have been known to bring anyone to their knees. You really want to test your new found luck?"

Grunt chuckled, "luck?"

Jessica nodded, "Yep. Luck. I haven't kicked your krogan ass yet. Count your lucky stars."

In that moment the door swished open to Grunt's room.

"Put her down. Now!" Demanded Bryant as his biotics ghosted on his skin. Two security guards plus Jacob were behind him with a shotgun pointed at the Krogan.

Grunt and Jessica both turned their eyes to meet with very angry sky blue eyes.

"I said, put her down," Bryant said in a dangerous tone.

"And if I don't?" taunted Grunt.

Bryant narrowed his eyes in response.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "I'm fine Bryant. We all are. Listen, Grunt, I may not command this ship, but you'll have a purpose. Killing and war and battle isn't everything. There is more to living than war. I can help you find it."

Grunt turned to look back at her.

"Nothing in the tank imprints indicated humans could be so forceful." Grunt turned to look back at Bryant. "You command as thought you've earned it."

"I have fucking earned it," responded Bryant coldly. "I am giving you this damn chance to let her go."

"Don't fucking hurt him, Bryant," interjected Jessica.

"Shut up. He wasn't suppose to leave the fucking tank," said Bryant as he looked at her now.

"Don't tell me to shut up-"

"You are aboard my fucking ship. I make the fucking rules. I don't have time to fucking babysit you. I have enough with the enemies that fucking threaten us-"

"Enemies?" interjected Grunt.

Both Jessica and Bryant looked at the krogan.

"Yes. Enemies. Enemies that have been a damn thorn at my side and reason why i'm back."

Grunt thought for a moment and nodded, "That's… acceptable. I'll fight for you," said Grunt as he looked at Jessica when he said that last part.

"I am glad you saw reason, Grunt," said Jessica with a sly smile.

Grunt huffed and then heard something softly scratching on his armor. He looked down and let her go, smiling as he did so. He chuckled softly, "Ha! Offer one hand, but arm the other." He nodded, "Wise, Jessica," he looked back at the tank. "If I find a clan, if I find what I… I want, I will be honored to eventually put them against you."

Jessica shook her head in amusement, "our enemies are already in hell, Grunt. They just don't know it yet."

Grunt chuckled.

"To the debriefing room, Shepard. Now," commanded Bryant as the security guards, Jacob and himself turned around, leaving Grunt's room.

Jessica glared at Bryant's back as she began to walk away. She paused at the door and looked at Grunt's back as he looked inside the tank. She hummed softly and left the room completely. Bryant already inside the CIC as she pressed the button to take her to the same floor. With quiet, quick strides she left the elevator once she reached the second floor and made her way into the debriefing room. She saw Jacob glance at her and shook his head. She rolled her eyes. It was disappointment that she saw in his eyes. She didn't care.

As soon as the doors to the debriefing room opened, she felt it, in the air, the cold, tense atmosphere. Bryant was at the opposite end of the room. His biotics ghosting still on his skin. Sky blue eyes were no longer gentle but angry. Pissed. He was leaning on the wall behind him, arms crossed as he stared at her coldly.

She blinked and those sky blue eyes were replaced by midnight blue eyes. The same eyes that were always cold. Always angry.

' _They are so alike…'_ She thought in her mind as she started at an unrecognizable Bryant.

"So, I gave orders to not open that tank," Bryant began. "Do you want to explain why you went behind my back and disobeyed orders?"

Jessica gave him an equally cold stare, "no. I am not going to explain anything."

Bryant nodded as he looked away from her. Agitation now showing, "you do know that I command this ship, yes?"

She rolled her eyes at that.

"I cannot have you aboard this ship, breaking my rules, Shepard."

She wanted to laugh in that moment. Her last name. What a weird way the Shepard siblings addressed people they are angry with or don't know.

"Bryant, I am not breaking the rules. However, this one rule was stupid."

Bryant raised an eyebrow at her in question.

"Deal with everything that comes aboard this ship. We don't have time to analyze things. Plus, he had nutrients that could last him a year. Then what? You were going to let him die?"

Bryant narrowed his eyes, "I never said I was keeping him there for a damn year. He was an unknown. I don't know what the fuck Okeer planted within him-"

The doors behind Jessica opened. She looked back and rolled her eyes. Turning back around to stare at Bryant. Her emerald eyes looked at the ceiling, closing her eyes and praying for patience.

"Why did you let the Krogan out?" demanded Miranda as she came into the room.

Bryant shook his head, "I am handling this Lawson-"

"She had no reason to go into that room! That Krogan could have attacked everyone on this ship! He could have killed you!" Miranda emphasized with a glare to Jessica.

"He wouldn't and didn't kill me nor anyone aboard this ship. I won't explain my actions. I let him go and everything is fine," Jessica responded with calm and grace.

"That isn't, nor wasn't -" Bryant began but was cut off.

"If Celestine were here, you wouldn't question her," Jessica interjected.

Bryant's heart froze at the name.

"She would have done the same. And I know you wouldn't question her. So why question me?"

Miranda took a step back at the mention of her name.

"She isn't here, Jessica…" spoke up Bryant softly. His anger now gone. Biotics now gone. His arms were to his side in defeat. "And even if she was, I would still -"

"Bullshit and you and I both know it."

Bryant looked at Jessica with pained filled eyes.

"I released it. It didn't go berserk. We need all the hands for this mission. Being scared, won't solve anything. Grab your balls out of your purse and put them on. This is war, Bryant. Stop bullshitting around," advised Jessica as she turned around and left the debriefing room with angry silent steps.

Both Miranda and Bryant looked at each other. Bryant sighed and gave a nod to Miranda.

"Back to your post, Miranda. I will announce when we have arrived at the Citadel."

Miranda nodded and left the room. Her heels clicking on the floor as she walked away. Bryant slid down the wall he was leaning on, sitting down on the floor. His knees to his chest as he wrapped his arms around himself. He placed his head on his knees and exhaled softly.

" _She would have done the same. And I know you wouldn't question her. So why question me?"_

That lingered in his mind.

" _She would have done the same. And I know you wouldn't question her. So why question me?"_

Bryant shook his head softly as tears fell from his eyes. He closed his eyes, and there she was. Staring back at him.

" _Bryant…"_

He opened his eyes and looked up, to find her sitting on her legs looking at him with a soft smile.

" _Don't cry…"_

She reached to his face. It was warm. A ghost of a touch. But it didn't wipe his tears. But she didn't care. She only smiled softly at him.

"She is right you know… if you had opened the tank, I wouldn't questioned it…"

She shook her head softly, " _that isn't true. You and I would be bickering."_

Bryant chuckled softly at that, "true…"

He sighed. He was tired. Since he woke up, he was tired. Empty. Cold. A part of him felt like it was missing. He looked back at warm midnight blue eyes. Her eyes, no longer stormy. But peaceful.

" _Take your time to adjust, Bryant. Everything is going to be ok. You'll see,"_ she said with a smile and closed her eyes.

Bryant shook his head softly as he reached for her cheek, "nothing is ok… you are not here…" he said softly as his hand landed on her face. He could swear he felt her soft skin under his fingers.

She leaned into his touch and opened her eyes, her smile still in place.

" _Siempre estoy contigo, mi Cielo. Siempre. Nunca estás solo,"_ she said softly.

Bryant blinked twice, as she stood.

" _Come on. You have a mission to finish,"_ She encouraged.

Bryant sighed but nodded as he got up. She started to walk away, he followed her until they reached the CIC. He turned to look at her and thank her but the words died in his throat. She was gone from his side. He sighed and shook his head. He had almost forgotten that she was only a fragment of his imagination.

0-0-0-0

Jessica left the elevator and went straight into the main battery. Garrus turned around to greet her but he felt the air change as she walked in and sat on their bed.

"Kitten…" Garrus whispered her nickname softly in worry as he left his console and sat on their bed beside her.

"You are not going to questioned me too, about the Krogan?" she asked sarcastically.

Garrus shook his head, "no."

Jessica exhaled a breath softly, "well, at least that's someone who trusts in my judgment."

Garrus placed a hand on her back and softly began to rub her back.

"He did give orders though, Kitten."

Jessica huffed, "Bryant needs to learn that there is no time to analyze things! We need all the help we can get. A krogan can very much tip the scales! He is a powerful ally. And there was no way I could be aboard this ship and know that, he was caged in! No…" Jessica shook her head. "No one should be left like that… no one."

Garrus felt her tense under his touch. He embraced her, feeling her distress.

"It's ok, Kitten. I understand and trust why you let him out. The good thing is that you didn't get hurt. Everything is going to be ok. Give Bryant a moment. You know he will apologize once he has a moment to take everything in," Garrus tried to soothe.

Jessica huffed, "if he will keep questioning my actions, we are going to have a problem…"

Garrus nodded, agreeing with that sentiment. But also, Garrus understood Bryant. He looked absolutely lost. As he was just wandering around aimlessly.

"Give it time, Kitten. That is all it is. He did come back from the dead and practically thrust back into the action. He hasn't had time to even probably, let that thought sink in."

Jessica sighed, closing her eyes, feeling guilt for causing Bryant trouble when he himself also seemed troubled.

"Take a nap, Kitten. Come on, try," Garrus advised.

"I can't…" she whispered.

Garrus got up, leaving her arms for a moment and took off his armor, leaving him only in his civilian clothing. He got on the bed and laid down, patting the space next to him. She hummed, taking off her boots and unzipping her catsuit to her chest and laid down next to him. She placed her face in the crook of his neck as he embraced her, keeping her flush to him. His fingers caressing her back. She sighed softly, feeling relaxed. He knew what to do to melt her worries away. She loved that about him.

"Garrus…" she whispered softly.

Garrus hummed in response.

"Could you sing to me?..."

Garrus chuckled. He wasn't much of a singer but for her, he would try.

Jessica smiled as she felt his rumble of a chuckle in her ear. It prompt her to giggle softly.

"I hear you're feeling down," he began to sing. "Well I can ease your pain. Get you on your feet again. Relax."

Jessica giggled and snuggled into his neck as he sang a song of her favorite band. She sighed softly and closed her eyes as she took his voice, into her world of dreams.

0-0-0-0

He blinked several times as the noise of people around him flooded his ears. He stood to full height as he left the vehicle. Looking around, he began to walk. Bright lights catching his attention as he continued to look around. His stomach softly rumbling, he paused and touched his stomach.

"I'm hungry…" he whispered to himself and grabbed a small clear bag from inside his jacket pocket and took out a cookie. He happily bit into it and continued to walk around, watching people pass him by. Laughter, chatter all noise around him when suddenly he raised a brow and turned around. "I have been here… haven't I?" he asked himself as he turned back around. Now suddenly feeling lost.

' _For fuck sakes, use your omni tool!'_ Jessica in his mind berated.

"Oh. Right," he answered the voice in his head and turned on his omni tool and looked at the map, now knowing where to go to find Anderson's office.

0-0-0-0

Bryant hummed as he went into his new room after having a small talk with Kelly. Kelly was nice and all but he really couldn't talk to her like he could with Karen. He didn't know if it was because she worked for Cerberus or if it was just her personality that was a bit too overly sweet. He chuckled to himself at that thought as he grabbed his armor and placed it on his table. Miranda making the arrangements for his things to be in the Life Support room. He felt much better. It was smaller and he actually didn't feel alone and he had a nice window to look at the ship's core. Something he really liked. It looked really cool.

He grabbed a few tools and began to work on his armor when the doors to his quarters opened. He didn't look up as he continued working.

"Is this better?" asked Miranda as she sat on the chair in front of him.

"Much," he responded as he made the adjustments on his cuffs of the armor.

"Something wrong with the armor?"

Bryant hummed as he placed the cuff on the table and looked at Miranda, "you are here for a reason. What's up?"

Miranda raised an eyebrow at the casually put question. She sighed softly, her leg began to bounce softly as she thought of a question to ask. Or how to ask it.

Bryant observed her and her obvious discomfort.

"You seemed to take a great hit when my sister's name was mentioned," claimed Bryant as he grabbed his chest plate and began to work on it.

Miranda swallowed and nodded, "I want to know… what was she like…" she voiced softly.

Bryant shook his head and smiled, "for what purpose?" he asked as he looked at her again. He really had a hard time to keep eye contact with her. For the mere purpose that they looked alike. With slight differences but she was there. Right in front of him. It was odd to him. He turned back to his chest plate and mused over her request. "Geai Bleu -"

"What?" Miranda interjected confused.

"Geai Bleu, was her nickname. A nickname, my father and I used to call her since she was eleven. When I first met her," he shook his head at the memories.

"Why?" inquired Miranda as she leaned into her chair crossing a leg over the other, to listen.

"Because she reminded us of a blue jay. Blue eyes, black hair, her bullines, her boldness… born in the stars, meant to fly free…"

Miranda hummed in response.

"Geai Bleu… was… an incredible woman. Brilliant. She was… cold, ruthless, merciless… deadly. You knew not to fuck with her when she walked passed you," he began to describe her. "Ashley calls her 'Honey Tongue' for always getting out of situations without even raising hell. She enjoyed taunting her enemies. Provoking them. Placing fear in them. Men and woman see her and can't resist her. She is tempting. Seductive," he shook his head as he remembered the one guy who dared to touch her and he ended up with a broken arm. "But to all of us in the SR1 she was kind, loyal to the core. Protective. Honest. Fearless," he looked at Miranda with a smile. "Jessica and Geai Bleu are the same in that. We used to call them Twins for that reason... Well many other reasons, but they are vastly different when they are side by side," he sighed as he placed his chest piece down, staring at the N7 logo. "Jessica and her were… an incredible team… Geai Bleu trusted her with her very person. Trusted her to make the calls and never once, questioned her after Feros… she trusted her judgment…" Bryant paused now feeling guilty. "I shouldn't question her judgment…" he whispered.

Miranda shook her head, "you had every right to -"

"No Miranda," he interjected as he looked at her with pained eyes. "Celestine, not once, after Feros, questioned her. After Virmire, she took command of the ship, while I was in complete and utter denial. I didn't question her command. I was suppose to command as I was the second XO. But Celestine never asked me for strategies. I was happy being in the engine room. She always came to Jessica even before the Feros mission. Jessica took command while I was destroyed, and none of us questioned her judgment. I followed her. I was lost. And so was she but she did something I couldn't and that was lead even with a broken heart..." he paused as the guilt hit him full force. "She was right that I wouldn't question Celestine. I never questioned my sister. For anything, I never did. And I know for a fact that if she was here, Celestine would agree with her choice to let the Krogan out of the tank…"

Miranda stared at Bryant as he looked at his chest plate in complete guilt and shame.

"Bryant, it's ok. You didn't know how unstable the Krogan was. I agreed to it. I even said so…"

Bryant shook his head as he grabbed the next piece and began to make adjustments, "I have no reason to question, Jessica, Miranda. Jessica's instincts are never wrong. When she speaks, there are not wasted words and best heed them," he paused as he looked at Miranda. "Jessica Viorica Shepard is always one step ahead of everyone and never wrong."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at that, "you make her sound almost invincible."

Bryant chuckled at that and continued to work on his armor, "she is still human. But she has wisdom for a young woman."

Miranda hummed, "sounds like you admire her a lot."

Bryant smiled and nodded, "I do. Ever since I laid eyes on her," he confessed. "Unlike many men, I shook her hand. I was so honored to meet her. I heard much about her work with the colonies. I showed respect. You can see her brilliance when you meet her but she carries this… mystery about her…" Bryant paused in his thought, his eyes staring at the tool in his hand.

Miranda giggled, "sounds like she has you entranced."

Bryant smiled, "not going to lie. Jessica is gorgeous. But i'm not her type. The birb is," he laughed. "I know when I don't have a chance with a woman. Especially when they have that spark of love. And I never get in between of love."

Miranda smiled hearing his laugh.

"Bryant, we are docking at the Citadel," announced Jeff through the PA system.

"On my way," said Bryant as he finished his adjustments. "I will see Anderson. He wanted to see me. And I also have a few questions for him… I need to catch up on what is going on."

Miranda nodded as she got up and began to leave the room.

"For the record, I don't think you made the wrong choice to questioned her. It's ok to re-familiarize yourself. You are human after all."

Bryant paused in his work as she spoke.

"I brought you back exactly as you were, Bryant. This is really you. The way you handle situations, is exactly why I spent two years bringing you back," and with that she left the room completely.

Bryant swallowed.

' _So… have I always questioned everyone?...'_ he wondered.

He shook his head and sighed, placing on his armor. He touched his earpiece to connect to Jessica and Garrus' earpieces.

"Hey, we are already at the Citadel. I am going to see Anderson."

"We will be behind you," responded Garrus softly.

Bryant sighed softly as he finished placing his armor on.

0-0-0-0

"I see…" said David as he exhaled, his brown eyes looking at the sky cars that passed by the presidium traffic. "So? What do you want me to exactly do, Gustav?" he asked as he turned around to look at him.

Gustav sat at the desk. Staring at the datapad in front of him. It detailed his leave of absence.

"I need you to contact, Bryant. I want to help," he said softly as he continued to stare at the datapad.

David sighed softly and in that moment the doors opened.

"David," nodded Bryant as he walked into the room.

"Bryant…" softly gasped David as his eyes stared at golden hair, 5'11 feet tall of a man with sky blue eyes very much alive in front of him.

"Councilor," came Jessica's voice behind him.

"Councilor," greeted Garrus as he came behind Jessica.

"Bell…"

At the mention of her nickname she turned her to look at steel-blue eyes.

"Gus? What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked towards him.

"I came to… to help…" he said as he watched her sit on the table crossing a leg over the other.

"What changed your mind?" Bryant asked as he stood next to Anderson.

"The alliance isn't mobilizing to save those colonists. I won't sit idly by and not do anything. However, I am not working for Cerberus…" Gustav made clear.

"Who said I was working for them?" asked Bryant a bit agitated.

"I didn't say you were. I said I am not working for them," responded Gustav annoyed already.

"None of us are working for those fuckers. Like hell I would work for them. We are using their resources. Yes, they brought me back to life and gave me the fucking ship, but i'm not taking orders from Cerberus," elaborated Bryant as he narrowed his eyes at Gustav, already annoyed with his tone of voice. His voice, even as a guy, reminded him of his sister. Both having french accents. It was making his heart ache. He didn't want to hear him talk anymore.

Gustav shook his head, "I only want to help."

"You are welcome to come aboard and help us," interjected Jessica as she intertwined her fingers and placed them on her knee.

Bryant nodded at that, grateful for her voice.

Gustav nodded and grabbed his datapad, placing inside his duffle bag and closing it.

"Garrus and Jessica can take you back to the ship. Unless you have questions for David."

Jessica shook her head as he got up from the table, "just came to see how… an old friend was doing these days."

Anderson smiled at her, "I am doing fine, Jessica. And you?"

Jessica nodded, "I will be ok."

Anderson chuckled and nodded at her, "keep safe."

Jessica smiled and nodded, gesturing for Gustav to walk ahead of her. He rolled his eyes and looked at Anderson, nodding at him once.

"Thank you, Councilor."

Anderson shook his head, "thank you for the update. I will do what I can to mobilize the Alliance. They have to listen."

Gustav looked away and began to walk out the office with Garrus and Jessica following him out.

"You said you wanted to see me…" began to speak Bryant as he watched David go to three panels.

"Anderson," greeted the Turian Councilor.

"This meeting would be more productive if Udina was to join us," said the Asari Councilor and then her eyes met with Bryant.

"My advisor is unavailable. As Councilor, I represent the voice of humanity and the Alliance," David began. "And Bryant is here as I said he would be."

Bryant saluted to the Councilors.

"We've heard many rumors surrounding your unexpected return. Some of them are… unsettling,." spoke up the Salarian Councilor.

Bryant sighed.

' _This is going to be one long ass day…'_

0-0-0-0

"They didn't listen, did they?"

Gustav kept looking forward, his steel-blue eyes scanning his environment as his mind was preoccupied with his own musings. At the sound of her soft British voice his musing cease for the moment and he turned his head to the side to stare at her only for a few seconds to register her face and then back in front of him.

"No. They didn't," he answered with a soft growl of annoyance.

Jessica shook her head. She knew they wouldn't listen. She knew it was all futile effort to make the Alliance mobilize. She sighed softly. A heavy, familiar warm hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to find warm ice-blue eyes stare back at her. She smiled, rubbing his hand on her shoulder softly in appreciation for being there to soothe her worries.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Gustav already feeling like eyes were following him. He hated that feeling. However, it seemed Jessica already knew that they were being followed as she turned her head to the tube advertisement. She shook her head and approached the tube.

"Please tell me your password," said the shadowed figure that appeared so suddenly on the advertisement tube.

Jessica placed a hand on her cheek as the other folded across her abdomen, "silence is golden," she answered bored.

"And duct tape is silver..." whispered Gustav prompting Garrus to cough to cover up for his laugh.

Jessica shook her head in amusement, dropping her hands, "only you would do these things, Kas."

Kasumi hummed, nodding in greeting.

"You know me. Have to remain in the shadows."

Jessica nodded, "yes, yes. Best thief in the business, not the most famous."

"Well, who pissed in your coffee this morning?" Kasumi asked slightly amused as she cloaked and landed in front of her, decloaking, looking at her with a smirk.

Jessica shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, "so. You want something."

"Don't I always?" Kasumi winked and waved at Garrus and Gustav.

They in turn waved back.

"What do you need?" Jessica asked to get to the point.

Kasumi looked around and got close to Jessica, prompting her to walk with her.

"I need help obtaining a grey box. However, I don't have all the details. And I heard your Commander is alive," she whispered as they continued to walk.

"And?" Jessica questioned to get her to say what she wanted to say.

"And I want to help. A favor for a favor."

Jessica hummed in response as she continued to walk. Her mind slightly distracted but also alert as she came to stop at a familiar road ahead of her.

"I need to speak to Bryant," said Jessica and turned to look at Kasumi. "I don't make those decisions. But once he is done with his meeting, I will tell him."

"I can go wait in the ship," sing-songed Kasumi.

Jessica turned back to the road in front of her and nodded, "that's fine…" she paused in her musing as she watched Bryant turning and going down the road.

"Actually, let's go. He is right there. I know where he is going," she said as she quickly walked to catch up to him. Garrus, Gustav and Kasumi followed behind her.

They came to stop at a large home. It was beautiful and pristine white like everything else in the Presidium. Jessica's eyes brimmed with tears that she blinked back, keeping her composure as she saw Bryant stand in front of the wooden door, key card in hand. She watched as he exhaled a breath and insert the keycard in the slot and the door opened. With hunched shoulders he walked in. She didn't know why but she followed right behind him, entering the home. The smell of pumpkin spice invaded her senses, closing her eyes as memories of the SR1 danced in her mind.

Garrus sighed softly as he walked into the home, his gloved fingers touching the leather on the cream colored couch that greeted them as they both walked into the living room, the door closing behind him as Kasumi and Gustav stayed outside.

"What are you doing in here?"

The two of them looked up to find Bryant looking at them with curiosity.

"I'm sorry Bryant, I…" Jessica was the one who spoke up as she looked around.

Bryant sighed shaking his head, "don't be. This is your home too, remember?" he reminded her with a soft murmur as he walked to the tea table and picked up his family portrait.

Jessica looked down, closing her eyes as she saw Bryant's tears stream down his face, softly landing on the frame.

It blurred the imagine in front of him. He touched the faces of his father and Celestine. How he missed them. He sniffed, sitting down on Celestine's favorite red recliner chair, the picture still in his hand.

"I miss them…" he whispered brokenly as more tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I know…" said Jessica as she sat on the side of the chair and placed a hand on his back in comfort.

Bryant looked around the living room, hearing their laughter, remembering better times. He swore he could smell pastries since both his father and his sister loved to bake. He got up, Jessica letting him go as he placed the picture back on the table and left the living room, she followed suit as did Garrus, both knowing where he was going as he stared at a navy blue door. With a soft exhale he opened the door. The smell of roses and mint invaded their senses. It almost caused Bryant to fall to his knees as he walked into the room. Jessica had her arm wrapped with his to keep him upright as her chest tightened in pain. Garrus didn't even mind the gesture at all as the trio walked into the room.

Each one going to different areas in her room. Jessica softly opened a violin case and almost let tears fall as she touched the smooth surface, remembering when her Twin played for her. Even had a special song for her that she played. She closed her eyes, the music played in her ears clear as day.

Garrus went to the display case and saw the small crystal figurine that he gifted Celestine on her birthday. How she lit up in excitement at the small cute thing in her hand. He opened the case and took out the crystal, holding it in his hand.

Bryant sat at the end of her bed, staring at the last thing she painted. The bed shifted next to him.

"The eyes that always followed…" explained Bryant with a gesture to the watercolor portrait that was unfinished. "She drew those eyes a lot… never knew the person who it belonged to. Called them Steel-Blue Eyed Knight."

Jessica hummed as Garrus placed the figurine back into the case and went to sit next to Jessica, staring at the painting.

"It's so soft… she colored them with so much care…" examined Jessica as she tilted her head to the side. "I would say she painted this with… love…"

Bryant nodded, "she loved those eyes. She always dreamed of meeting those eyes in person. To the person it belonged to and… thank them."

Jessica looked at Bryant, "for what?"

Bryant got up and touched the painting gently, "for rescuing her. And for… being a constant companion…" he whispered at the end.

"Think that person is alive?" asked Garrus.

Bryant shrugged, "if they are not, I hope she got to meet him… wherever she is… and if he is alive… I hope she is watching over him just as how he watched over her…"

"What do you mean?" inquired Garrus.

Bryant shook his head, "it's… a long story. But as I said, they always followed. A constant companion. The only thing that kept her sane when she was young. I thought it went away but it seems it didn't…" he explained as he looked at the date in pencil at the corner of the cavana. "She painted this the same day she became Spectre and our dad died…"

Jessica placed a hand to her lips as they began to quiver. She looked at Garrus with so much sadness, it was starting to break his very soul. He embraced her, petting her hair softly as she leaned into his embrace.

"These eyes… always brought her peace. Always guided her. Always showed her the way. She once told me, that if she ever met these eyes, she knew she would find her future as that is all she saw within them," he paused as he tilted his head to the side. "A dream that would never come true. He was just a fantasy. An unreachable reality..."

Jessica smiled sadly as Garrus rubbed her back in comfort and purred softly. That was beautiful to hear but at the same time sad. And understandable as the person who saved her had their fate unknown.

"She was sixteen when she said that. I remember being so jealous. What person could hold so much power over her? I wondered. She was so entranced with these eyes," he shook his head in amusement.

"Did you ever ask her again about this?" asked Jessica softly.

Bryant turned around and looked at her, "yeah. I did. She said she would hug them. Thank them. But nothing more. When I reminded her what she said all those years ago, she blushed scarlet. I think she still had that in mind," he shrugged. "But I knew, that when she had that far away look, she was seeing those eyes. When she was on auto pilot, I knew she had those eyes in her mind. It was all in her mind. A fragment of her imagination but he was real to her."

"He?" asked Garrus.

Bryant nodded, "yes. He. It was a boy who saved her. Who set her free. Or made sure she was free…" he sighed and looked up at the starry ceiling. "If I ever meet the holder of these eyes, I want to thank them. Thank them for making sure she was free. And tell them… what kind of person she was. I'm sure, that he would be happy to know, she got better. Had a life and… lived as best she could…"

Jessica sighed softly. She knew the upbringing Celestine and Bryant had. Celestine gave more detail than Bryant. She couldn't believe the mother that they had. And the kindness Celestine spoke about her mother in the end.

" _She wasn't perfect but… she brought me into this world, Blue. She is the only mother I have…"_

Those were her words. And she said it with so much pain and sadness but also with anger. She never asked Bryant about it. But the soft anger in his voice at the end of his sentence, made it clear that he was angry with his step-mother. Or, rather, ex step-mother now. Since she was widowed. And now engaged to his uncle.

His soft sigh brought her back to the present. She stood as did Garrus when Bryant left the painting and looked around the room.

"We should get going," Bryant advised as he started to walk out of the room.

"Bryant. There is a friend… who wants to help but is asking for help in return," detailed Jessica as she followed his out.

Bryant paused and nodded, not thinking twice about it as he turned around and looked at green eyes.

"It's your friend, I will defer to your judgment."

Jessica blinked, her brows knitted together in uncertainty.

"I was wrong to question your judgment. And you were absolutely right. Had Celestine done what you did, I wouldn't question it. Jessica, Celestine never questioned you after Feros. Shit, even before that, the times you both argued was because of your lack of safety but she always came to you for everything. Your council. She heeded your advices. And I should do the same. I don't… trust Miranda nor Jacob," he paused and looked down with a sigh. "Not yet anyway. And having you… I need someone I do trust. And I trust you. Even if you don't trust me."

Jessica sighed softly and nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry that I went against your orders. I should have… spoken to you first. Maybe I could have convinced you to release him."

Bryant shook his head, "nah. You are a grown woman who knows what she is doing."

Jessica smiled. She enjoyed hearing that from him. Even if she was young, he had so much respect for her and didn't see her as a child or even a piece of meat like many men. He saw her straight in the eyes and always spoke to her with respect.

"So I will let you be the judge of your friend. And any help is welcomed," he finished with a smile and continued to walk down the hall and turned to a green door.

"Staying for the night?" she asked as she watched him.

"I think I will. I want… to be surrounded by something familiar… if that makes sense…"

Jessica nodded, understanding.

"Accommodate your friend and Gustav. And give Gustav the post of Chief Engineer."

Jessica raised a brow at that.

"David recommend that I did that. And seeing as how you recommended him as well, then I want him at the front of that engine. Give him all access to the systems and anything he will need to get to work. You trust him. So I will too," Bryant said with conviction as he entered his room.

Jessica fluttered her eyes in surprise and then looked at Garrus in shock. He shrugged but smiled, his mandibles fluttering softly. With a surprised smile and raised eyebrow she turned around, walking out of the home and saw Gustav looking at a small bush of white and red roses nearby while Kasumi was sitting on a bench nearby looking at people walking by. At the sound of the door closing behind Jessica and Garrus, both of them looked in their direction and approached them.

"So?" asked Kasumi as she stood in front of Jessica.

"You okay?" asked Gustav softly next to her. Her eyes were a bit puffy. As if she was doing a great effort to hold back tears.

"We accept the help, Kas and we will help you."

Kasumi grinned, "it'll be fun. And if we're lucky, you won't even have to draw your gun."

Jessica smiled and nodded, taking the lead for them all to go back to the ship.

"And yes, Gus. I'm fine," she reassured him.

Gustav knew that she was hiding it. She wasn't someone who displayed her sadness in front of anyone. But he knew her well enough to see the signs.

0-0-0-0

"Welcome back Jessica and Garrus," announced EDI.

"Hey EDI. Joker," greeted Jessica as she walked into the ship after decontamination.

"Hey!" he greeted in return as he turned his chair around.

"Hey, Joker," waved Garrus. "I will see you later, Kitten," he whispered in Jessica's ear.

She nodded and watched as he walked away.

"Gus?!" Jeff exclaimed surprised.

"Hey Joker," he greeted as he came to stand next to Jessica.

"Ash isn't here, Gus," Jeff smirked in amusement.

Jessica placed a hand on her lips and giggled as Gustav rolled his eyes and scolwed. He always came aboard the SR1 when he was in the Citadel and always came to see her and Ashley. Suddenly, a thought entered her mind and her eyes narrowed. Now that she thought about it, Celestine never met Gustav during his visits. She found that odd.

"Huh…"

Both men looked at her as she spoke.

"What's wrong?" asked Jeff in worry now.

Jessica waved her hand dismissively, "nothing. Just musing things over in my head. Anyway, Gus is staying and I also brought a friend. Her name is Kasumi."

Jeff looked around, wondering what other friend.

"Right here," Kasumi called next to him.

Jeff turned around seeing her wave at him.

"Hey. People call me Joker," he introduced himself.

"Kasumi Goto at your service, space man," she smirked.

Jeff laughed, "nice one. Welcome aboard. Where is Bryant?" asked Jeff as he turned his head to look at Jessica.

Jessica looked down, "he… decided to stay at… his home…" she finished her sentence softly.

"His… oh…" Jeff leaned back in his chair now sad.

"I hope he will be ok. By the looks of your faces, it must be… sad…" observed Kasumi.

Jeff sighed, "he had a sister… who lived with him there. Being brought back to life and not having his sister alive… well… you can imagine the hurt he is right now."

Kasumi did an O with her lips and now understood the sadness since Jessica served with the SR1.

"The Legendary Captain Celestine Claire Shepard," said Kasumi as she stood from her chair.

"The Butcher of Torfan…" Gustav whispered softly.

"She is more than that…" Jessica interjected as her hands fisted.

"So much more…" Jeff added in as he too fisted his hands and turned around.

"Come with me," Jessica ordered of them as she began to walk away.

They all went to the debriefing room and Jessica pressed a button on the small panel on the desk. It displayed the ship and the rooms.

"The top floor is the Captain's quarters but it's unoccupied. Bryant didn't want to use it. Then we have the Armory and Lab," she began to explain as she pointed to the direction of the Armory and Lab. "and where we were just in is the CIC where the galaxy map is and where Joker is, that is the cockpit. Third floor is the mess hall, the main battery where Garrus and I sleep, the medical bay, the bathrooms and we have the Starboard Observatory, The Crew's Quarters, Life Support being used by Bryant-"

"Why is the Commander of the ship not in the Captain's quarters?" asked Kasumi confused.

"He didn't want a big room so I moved his things to the most smallest room that was available. He said he felt too alone," came in Miranda's voice as she walked into the room.

Jessica rolled her eyes, closing them to gain patience.

"Who are they?" Miranda more demanded than asked.

"Gus, Kas, this is Miranda," Jessica introduced as nicely as she could.

"Kasumi Goto," nodded Kasumi.

"Captain Gustav Bertrand," Gustav saluted.

"Miranda Lawson. XO of the Normandy and again, what are they doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? To help," Jessica explained now a bit annoyed. "And before you ask, Bryant is fine with this. And he won't be here for the night."

"Where is he?" Miranda inquired with a raised eyebrows and arms crossed.

"At his home. He wanted to be surrounded by something familiar. As you can understand, being brought back from the dead is not an easy thing to comprehend," Jessica explained sarcastically at the end.

Miranda looked up, shook her head and left the debriefing room.

"I can see you don't like her," observed Kasumi.

"She is annoying. Anyway, Life Support, the Port Observation are all in the third floor. Fourth floor we have the engine room, Grunt is staying in the Port Cargo area, we have a Krogan aboard and the room across from him is the Starboard Cargo Area and then the fifth floor is the cargo bay with the shuttles. So, what rooms do you both want?" finished Jessica as she looked at both of them.

"I will take the Port Observation. I want a big window. And it has a bar!" squealed enthusiastically Kasumi.

"Lets pop open a wine bottle to celebrate your room then," laughed Jessica.

"Deal!" laughed Kasumi.

"I want the room where the engine is," said Gustav as he leaned back on the wall.

"Sure. Oh, which by the way, Bryant made you Chief Engineer and I am to give you all the access to all the systems and give you anything else you need," Jessica explained with a proud smile.

Gustav raised an eyebrow, "he… he doesn't even know me… and he trusts me… that quickly?"

Jessica nodded, her smile still in place, "Bryant isn't a person who trusts easily that's true BUT he has seen you at times aboard the SR1. You two didn't talk at all, I know but he trust me and my judgment. Besides, i'm the one who said to go and get you."

Gustav nodded, understanding as he picked up his bag.

"Go to your rooms, settle in and then Gus, we will talk about the engine okay?"

"Okay," he agreed as he walked out of the room.

"I should go make sure he won't get lost..." sighed Jessica as she quickly left the room with Kasumi cloaking and laughing behind her.

0-0-0-0

Bryant sighed as he went to his backyard. His eyes scanning the yard. He smiled, grateful that Anderson took the time to care for this house. The grass beautifully cut. The flowers and roses still in bloom. He walked across the grass, barefoot going to the gazebo where his piano lay.

He pressed a key, closing his eyes as the single note brought him a sense of calm. With a sad sigh he opened his eyes, sitting on the chair and placed his feet on the pedals. He placed a holo tape on top of the piano and pressed a button on the device. He smiled softly as there she stood.

Her knee long raven hair billowing softly from the wind. Her ruby red lips upturned into a smile. Her face calm and soft. Her ocean eyes at peace. The artificial light of the Citadel making her light brown skin glow. Her dress was a simple white dress, the top adorned with lace, held by a belt on her waist and the rest hugging her wide hips and flowing down, expanded around her.

He went back to his piano and closed his eyes, following his heart, he began to play the first note and then another until it created music that flooded the home.

"Te miro, respirars, y duermes callaaada y un ángel me ve sonreiiiir," he began to sing softly. "El tiempo se acorta y presiento, que pronto te iraaaas," he took a soft breath and looked at her as she smiled at him. "Despiertas, caminas y se hace un silencio que parte en pedazos mi feee. Tus ojos me anuncian de pronto, que aquí ya no estaaaas."

He smiled at her and began to play in earnest.

"Vuela mujer pasajera, con alma viajera, te llevas mi seeeer…" he paused and sighed softly, closing his eyes. "Hay amores que sangran, que son de cristaaal tan fácil se pueden rompeeeer, amores que nada se puede atrapar…" he stop playing. Tears streaming down his face as he looked at her hologram. "... y debes dejarlos volaaar…" he sang softly.

He stood, watching her as she followed him. He wanted to touch her. But all his hand did was go through her. It broke his heart.

"Why did you leave me…" he whispered brokenly and watched the hologram unfold with many memories he placed inside the device. The many times she sang with him. Played with him. When their father used to sing and play with them too. Talked to them, gave them advice. Hugged them, laughed together, the many food fights and baking moments, all unfolded in front of him.

' _Bryant…'_

He sniffed, closing his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.

' _I hate seeing you cry…'_ She whispered sadly looking at him.

He chuckled followed by a sob. He shook his head.

"I feel so alone…" he whispered to her as he looked at her.

' _You are never alone. I am always with you.'_

"No…" Bryant shook his head and looked at the sky. "I want you here. I want dad here. Right here with me…"

' _Principito!'_

Bryant sighed sadly as he heard his voice next to him.

' _No estas solo. Animo, hijo. Andale.'_ His father encouraged.

Bryant looked at them both, standing next to each other. His father's hands on Celestine's shoulders both staring at him with soft smiles, peaceful eyes.

"Hay amores que sangran, que son de cristal tan fácil se pueden rompeeer," began to sing his father.

"Amores que nada los puede atrapar y debes dejarlos volaaaar," sang Celestine softly.

Bryant sniffed and stood in front of them both.

"Hoy te dejo en libertaaad..." he finished the song.

He wished to hugged them but knew that he couldn't. He smiled. Feeling a little lighter after seeing them both in front of him. He closed his eyes and felt them hug him instead. He felt warm. Safe. He didn't dare open his eyes. He wanted to feel this moment forever. But it came to an end as the door to the backyard opened.

"Bryant?" came in Anderson's voice.

He turned around and nodded, "yeah?"

"You alright?" Anderson asked as he approached Bryant.

"No," Bryant whispered and then cried when Anderson hugged him.

"You shouldn't have been alone, son," Anderson whispered as he held him tight.

0-0-0-0

A knock interrupted his thoughts. He sighed and got up from his bed and went to open the door.

"Hey," greeted Jessica. "Everything okay? Can I come in?" she asked.

Gustav nodded, moving out of the way and gesturing for her to come into his room. She walked in, hands in front of her as she looked around.

"Organized," she smiled as she took a seat.

Gustav hummed and went to sit down on his bed, watching her.

"Everything is okay," he answered her earlier question. He tilted his head to the side, "are you okay?"

Jessica sighed softly and looked down, "is it that obvious?" she asked sadly.

"Bell, you are talking to me. Of course it's obvious to me. I've known you since you were a kid," he softly explained. "Still are," he huffed.

Jessica glared at him, "I am not a kid. I'm fucking 24 turning 25."

"You are to me," Gustav continued and grabbed his duffle bag from the table, and took out a heavy object.

Jessica rolled her eyes at his comment and sighed, staring at him as he took out something from his bag. She blinked rapidly, doing a double take as he held the object in his hand.

" _What are you working on?" she came to ask her Captain as she found her working late._

" _My weapon," Celestine responded and moved out of the way for Jessica to see._

" _Oooohhh, this is awesome! It's a sword!" she tried to pick it up but it was heavy._

" _Careful. Its heavy. But it's more than a sword. It's called a Gunblade," Celestine explained as she picked it up and Jessica watched mesmerized by the long blade changing into a sniper rifle. "I call it the Enkindler," Celestine winked at her._

 _Jessica laughed._

" _What? Is it that funny?" Celestine laughed with her._

 _Jessica couldn't speak as she doubled over in laughter, trying to tell a joke or something but it was too funny for her. After their laughter died down a bit Jessica broke into giggles._

" _So what are you going to tell your enemies? Enkindle this?" she laughed out loud. Waving her hands mouthing sorry as she practically died in laughter._

" _Spirits but that's a good one, Blue!" Celestine laughed with her._

"Where did you get that?" Jessica inquired in curiosity as she got up from her chair and approached him.

Gustav coughed, "um… you know… somewhere…" he tried to hide the actual fact of where he got it.

Jessica narrowed her eyes at him.

" _Where is it?!" she groaned in frustration as she looked all around the weapon's area._

" _What are you looking for?" Jessica asked Celestine as she came out of the elevator. According to Garrus, she was like a demon throwing things around, cursing like a sailor, trying to find something._

" _My Gunblade! I KNOW I left the bloody thing right here! Merde!" she cursed._

 _Jessica coughed a laughed. Celestine cursing in french was funny every time._

" _This isn't funny, Blue! I know I left it here! It was right here! Dammit it all to oblivion! Which asshole misplaced my weapon?!" Celestine demanded as everyone gathered around her._

" _Madeline! You are here all the fucking time, where is my gunblade?"_

 _Ashley placed her hands in surrender, "I don't know, Cele. Honest."_

" _I want that blade fucking found!" she ordered of everyone. No one dared to disobey the order especially when she was very pissed off._

"Son of a bitch," Jessica cursed. "Midnight had us looking everywhere for this weapon and it's now suddenly-" she paused as she remembered now the very last time she saw the weapon. Gustav was talking to Ashley. And then the next day it was gone. "I hate you," she laughed.

Gustav raised an eyebrow.

"Celestine had us looking, top and bottom for this weapon. It was her project. Her baby. It's named the Enkindler. Made a joke about it," she smiled as she touched the blade with a finger. It was still smooth and sharp. The light glinted beautifully on the weapon.

"Sorry… it was just… there and… um…" he stuttered, trying to find an explanation for why he took it.

"It caught your attention. It caught mine too. As a biotic vanguard, shotguns were boring for her. So she designed a weapon that could not only help her in close combat, but also from afar as she had infiltrator skills. Assassin skills."

Gustav fluttered his eyes rapidly at that, "so this is also a rifle?" he asked as he tried to find a way to see the rifle part.

Jessica smiled, "it turns into a sniper rifle. But only she could make it change as it's coded to her biomatrix."

Gustav groaned in slight annoyance. He wanted to see it change. Jessica giggled, enjoying his childlike behavior, all entertained with the weapon in his hand.

"Here," she gestured for him to move and by the handle, there was a something she did and something clicked and both watched fascinated as the blade changed into a sniper rifle.

"It's a fucking Javelin!" Gustav said in awe as he held the rifle with two hands.

"Yep. She never misses," she smiled softly as she went back to sit on the chair and continued to watch Gustav fascinated with the thing. She tilted her head to the side. "If she was still alive… you two would get along…" she whispered softly.

Gustav stopped looking at the rifle and then his eyes landed on Jessica as she looked down.

"Funny, I never met the Captain of the ship," he voiced.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing when we were talking with Joker."

Gustav hummed and looked at the handle, finding what Jessica did and watched as the sniper transformed back into the blade. He grabbed a cloth nearby and began to clean it, making sure to keep it in good condition. Jessica watched the way he took care of it. And then he placed it on the wall, taking a step back, admiring the blade with his hands on his hips.

"And that has you sad still, doesn't it?" Gustav inquired as he sat back down on his bed and looked at her.

Jessica sighed and leaned back, crossing a leg over the other.

"Seeing Bryant… being in this ship… makes me miss her… She was… my best friend. My other half. We called each other Twins. I frequently called her Midnight and she called me Blue. Midnight Blue…" she began to explain softly.

"Why Midnight Blue?" Gustav wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Because we enjoyed the night. The stars. The night sky is midnight blue. I called her Midnight for her eyes. She had… ocean eyes. Color of the ocean depths. And she called me Blue due to my favorite color and well… when we were alone, she called me Bluebell. Blue for short," she sighed as she remembered.

"I am… surprised you let someone call you like that…" he swallowed as he suddenly got nervous. He never dared called her by her middle name.

Jessica smiled, "I only allowed her to call me that during very private moments. Garrus sometimes calls me that too but only in private. Very rare though. Celestine was the only one who said it when we had those bonding moments. Where… she got to be herself and not the "Captain" facade that she had to show to the galaxy," she looked around his room. "Being back here… even if it's a new ship… brings all of that back. And seeing Bryant…" she sighed.

"What's wrong with Bryant?"

Jessica looked down, "I want to trust him. I want to believe that it's truly him staring at me in the face. But…" she got up and began to pace, crossing her arms across her chest. "He was brought back by Cerberus, Scout…"

Gustav smiled softly. Her nickname for him.

"Cerberus… there are so many unknowns and I… I don't know, Scout," she placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling trying to find an answer in the pristine metal ceiling.

"Maybe this is a second chance, Bell…" he voiced what he had been thinking for quite sometime since he saw Bryant alive and in front of him. The disbelief but also the great relief mixed with uncertainty, was seen in her eyes. Heard in her soft sighs, the subtle glances.

"That's… what I have been trying to figure out… if… if this is a second chance or just a cruel joke…" she closed her eyes, trying to contain her tears.

"Well, you won't know until you interact with him more. Until then, just do what you do. Observe him," Gustav advised her as he stood and approached her.

Jessica turned around and nodded looking at him with a sad smile. Gustav sighed and hugged her. He hated seeing her so sad. So confused and lost.

"I'm here if you need anything," he whispered to her as he closed his eyes, inhaled her sweet scent of coffee and chocolate from her hair.

"I know," she whispered in return and hugged him back. He smelled of gun polish and the day after it rains. It brought her comfort that somethings never change. She could always count on Gustav for that.

"You should go rest," he advised as he took a step back. "You can give me all the details of the engine tomorrow."

Jessica nodded and smiled, turning around and began to go to the door.

"Thank you," she said as she paused at the door.

"For what?"

She looked at him, "for being here."

He nodded, smiling in return and watched as she left, the door closing behind her. He sighed tiredly and went to lay down on his bed. He didn't like it much but it would have to do. Once his head hit the pillow he went to sleep.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 _Mierda_ \- Meaning Shit in Spanish

 _Siempre estoy contigo, mi Cielo. Siempre. Nunca estás solo_ \- Meaning I am always with you, my sky. Always. You are never alone in Spanish.

 _Geai Bleu_ \- Meaning Blue Jay in French.

Song Bryant is singing found on my blog profile.

 _Principito -_ Meaning Little Prince in Spanish.

 _No estas solo. Animo, hijo. Andale. -_ Meaning you are not alone. Chin up, son. Go on in Spanish.

 _M_ _erde -_ Meaning Shit in French


End file.
